Introduction to Downing Street 10

Today's Downing Street 10 merged with the original Downing Street 10 in 1733. The "Hougong House" was originally a side house attached to Whitehall Palace, which was used as a chicken farm. From 1530 to 1698, Whitehall Palace was the main residence of the British monarch. The side house where the chicken farm is located is actually a group of side houses with different styles built before 1530, and the chicken farm occupies the main part of the side house. In addition, the chicken farm itself is a special building with an octagonal dome at the top. The cockfighting in the chicken farm didn't stop until James I's time, but the name of the chicken farm never changed. In James I's later years, it was changed into a concert hall and theater, with a dressing room surrounded by green curtains and a three-foot mirror for "female comedians to change clothes". James I also likes chicken farm plays.

The chicken farm is only a part of the side houses, and the rest are big houses. The guards of Whitehall Palace live and work here, and the guards are also responsible for managing and maintaining the side houses, including the theater. ThomasKnyvet is one of the famous residents. He served as the caretaker of Whitehall Palace in the early17th century, serving Elizabeth I and James I ... Neville was also a sheriff and was one of the key figures in 1605' s plot to crush gunpowder. Shortly before the gunpowder plot, Neville cleaned up the side houses, let James I's four-year-old son Prince Charles live in them, and moved to the nearby Neville House (later renamed Hampden House).

Prince Charles only lived for a short time, and then the "house behind the palace" became the residence of different people. Including Princess Irina Karp Tairova, the sister of Prince Charles, oliver cromwell and george monck, lord protector, the first generation Duke of Albemarle (george monck, 1ST), Prince Orange, and the later Cabal cabinet member, namely the second generation george villiers, Duke of Buckingham. These residents have been rebuilding the "house behind the palace" to varying degrees, making the "house behind the palace" gradually become a luxurious mansion.

1677, charles ii's daughter, Countess litchfield, moved to "the house behind the palace". She is dissatisfied with the construction of townhouses in nearby Downing Street and worried that her privacy will be violated. Therefore, charles ii once ordered a high wall to be built between the terraced houses and the "house behind the palace" to prevent anyone from peeping from the terraced houses. Countess litchfield moved out of the "House behind the Palace" and went into exile after the glorious revolution in 1688. As for the Dutch aristocrat Henry Nassau and Lord Auverquerque who helped William III ascend to the throne, he moved in 1690 and renamed the "House after the Palace" as "Overcock House".

Lord Aucoc and his wife died in 1708 and 1720 respectively. After the death of his wife, "Aucoc House" became a royal asset, renamed as "Boboma House", and was given to Johann Caspar von Bothmar, an envoy from Hanover. Count Boboma was an adviser to George I and George II. 1732 After his death, Bopoma House was once again owned by the royal family. George downing, the builder of Downing Street, grew up in New England and was one of the first graduates of Harvard University. Downing returned to England during the English Civil War and became an important think tank of oliver cromwell in 1650, so he had great power at that time.

1657, Downing was appointed as the British ambassador to The Hague to resist the exiled British royal family. However, after Cromwell's death in 1658, Downing was succeeded by Cromwell's son richard cromwell as the new heir. Downing realized that the life of England was at stake, so he decided to take refuge in the exiled British royal family, introduce himself to charles ii, and draw a clear line with his former partners. As a result, Downing was appointed by charles ii. Although he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two months after his return from Holland, he was rewarded handsomely immediately after the restoration of the imperial government.

Downing has long been interested in developing real estate in this area to make a profit. 1654, he obtained the right to lease Hampton Manor from the royal family, but as the lease at that time belonged to Thomas Neville's descendants, Downing didn't get his lease until 1682. After obtaining the lease, he demolished the original house and built 15 to 20 townhouses on the north side of the street. Although these townhouses were designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the quality was very poor and they were built on marshland. The townhouse in Downing Street was finally built in 1684, and the emperor named the street Downing Street. The current house number of Downing Street has been changed to 1779, so today's Downing Street 10 should be No.5 Downing Street. Downing rented a townhouse in Downing Street as an apartment, but he has always lived in a manor house in Cambridge, so he has never lived in Downing Street. In fact, a few months after the townhouse was built, Downing himself died. When Downing's lease was passed on to his grandson, he finally returned to the royal family because he had never lived with his wife and led an improper life. After the death of Count Boboma, the "house behind the palace" was once again owned by the royal family. King George II seized the opportunity and gave it to Sir robert walpole to thank him for his special contribution to the royal family and the country in the past 20 years. At the same time, George II obtained leases for two properties and several stables in Downing Street, one of which was Downing Street 10. As a result, the emperor gave Downing Street 10 to walpole.

But walpole didn't want to accept this award personally, and the reasons were different. Walpole himself is a rich landlord, which may drive him unwilling to increase the burden; It is also possible that he knows that the house given to him by others is built on swamp soil, and it will definitely cost a lot of money to maintain it in the future. Although we don't know the real motive of walpole's refusal today, we do know that the emperor accepted walpole's suggestion and gave the mansion to walpole in the name of the first finance minister, which means that walpole will move out of the mansion and let his successor move in after he leaves office as the first finance minister. After reaching an agreement, walpole began to plan to link the acquired properties and expand the official residence eastward. So walpole called Mr. Ji, a resident near Downing Street 10, to discuss and encourage him to move to other houses in Downing Street. Therefore, walpole merged Chyi Chin's small former residence, stables and "the house behind the palace" into Downing Street 10.

Walpole entrusted the famous architect William Kent to take charge of the merger project. Kent has built a two-story connection between the "House behind the Palace" and Downing Street 10. There is a corridor in it, which connects the two buildings together and is called the "Ministry of Finance Corridor". There is a long room under the connector, and the first floor is divided into several rooms. After the merger of houses, Kent demolished all the original walls, floors, stairs and stoves and completely replaced them with new styles. Among them, the newly-built three-story stone staircase is Kent's masterpiece. The stone staircase was rebuilt on the main body of the original Downing Street 10, with iron railings and mahogany handrails. The stone staircase is near the entrance of Downing Street 10, obviously. Today, I walked up the stairs and hung portraits of the Prime Minister from Sir robert walpole to Ma Andre.

As for the original "house behind the palace", Kent divided it into three-story residential parts and built a triangular roof in Palladio style in the middle of the building. In order to make it easier for walpole to get to Parliament, Kent removed the original entrance of St James Park and changed the entrance of Downing Street to the main entrance of the mansion. The renovation project of Downing Street 10 took two years. Finally,1On September 23rd, 735, the London Journal reported that walpole moved into Downing Street 10: "Yesterday, Sir robert walpole, his wife and his family moved from their mansion in St James' Square to their new house in St James' Park, which is connected with the Treasury. "

The newly-built Downing Street 10 has about 60 rooms, all made of marble. There are seven main rooms in the basement, while all rooms on the first floor can see the backyard or St. James' Park. The largest underground room is designated as walpole's study. It is 40 feet long and has many huge windows. Known by Kent as the "Master's Study", it is very famous and often becomes the subject of many famous paintings and photos. Walpole's study has been transformed into a cabinet meeting room, where the Prime Minister will discuss government policies and the international situation with his subordinate cabinet members. On the fireplace behind the Prime Minister's seat, there is a portrait of walpole, which is the only portrait in the cabinet meeting room.

After walpole moved into his new house, he carried out other renovation projects. He transformed a piece of land outside his study into a backyard. The document issued by the Finance Committee in April 1736 stated: "... a garden located outside His Majesty's St. James' Park, adjacent to a house, has been handed over to His Majesty's Finance Minister. The cost of building this garden was paid by the royal family. The document also lists that Downing Street 10 and the newly-built garden "belong to the office of His Majesty's Ministry of Finance and are now the residence of the First Commissioner of His Majesty's Ministry of Finance. "This is the first official statement that Downing Street 10 has become the official residence of the first Commissioner. It should be noted that although it is generally believed that Downing Street 10 is the official residence of the Prime Minister, the fact is that the Prime Minister still lives in Downing Street 10 in the name of the First Finance Minister, so Downing Street 10 is not the real official residence of the Prime Minister. Walpole left Downing Street 10 on 1742, but there was no first finance minister for the next 20 years. Walpole's successors Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, Duke of henry pelham and Duke of Newcastle all chose to move elsewhere. It was not until 1763 that Prime Minister george grenville moved back to Downing Street 10, but two years later, he was dismissed by George III.

Another prime minister, Lord North, moved into Downing Street 10 in the name of the first Chancellor of the Exchequer in 170. No.0/0, Downing Street, Northern Ireland, often entertains many celebrities in the house, such as writer samuel johnson and so on. Robert Robert Clive is also a frequent visitor there, and today's Downing Street 10 still retains some furniture specially made for him. 1On the night of June 7, 780, the "Gordon riots" broke out in the streets of London because Protestants were very dissatisfied with North's relaxation of Catholic policies. Demonstrators set fires everywhere, and some even went to Downing Street. Lord North was having dinner with friends at that time, but he went out of the house and warned the demonstrators that they were in danger of being killed. Finally, he successfully dissuaded the demonstrators. As for North's guests, they took refuge in the top floor of the official residence. Lord North has carried out several improvement works on Downing Street 10, starting from 1766, which lasted for nearly 8 years. During this period, Downing Street 10 was replaced by a black front door, a familiar chandelier and a famous lion's head knocking on the ring. In the later period of Lord North's tenure as Prime Minister, he asked Sir robert taylor, an architect, to repair Downing Street 10, and to add an arched kitchen beside the treasury green.

William Pitt, the youngest prime minister in British history, lived in 1783 to 180 1, 1804 to 1806, respectively, and lived for 20 years, making him the longest-lived Downing Street resident. During his tenure, Downing Street 10 became the political center, and many important decisions such as parliamentary reform, free trade, and increasing the national fiscal reserve plan were made here. In addition, Downing Street 10 is also a social place. William wilberforce, who advocated the abolition of the slave trade, and george canning, the future prime minister, were guests hosted by Peter Jr.

Peter Jr once reported to Congress that he spent 20,000 pounds to rebuild Downing Street 10, which was criticized by the media. The biggest change is in 1796. In order to expand the cabinet meeting room, he pulled down one of the walls and added a few stone pillars to support the expanded area, which became the cabinet meeting room today. Peter died on 1806. Although he is only 46 years old, he has lived in Downing Street 10 for many years, which helped him establish his position as the Prime Minister's Office. Entering the19th century, Downing Street 10 has experienced many difficult times. After Peter Jr., Spencer Perceval moved into Downing Street 10 in 807 and became Prime Minister two years later. Persia has 12 children and a large population, occupying almost every room. However, he was finally carried out of the coffin at Downing Street 10. Bosphor was assassinated in the British House of Commons on May 18 12, 1 1. Before the funeral, his body stopped at Downing Street 10 for five days.

After percival, Prime Minister The Viscount Goderich moved to Downing Street 10 in/827, and asked the architect Sir sir john soane to decorate the interior to make Downing Street 10 look more gorgeous. Thorne also built a state banquet hall and a small banquet hall for holding high-standard social gatherings. To sum up, in the whole1820s, Downing Street 10 once became the center of government power, while the adjacent Downing Street 1 1 officially became the official residence of the Finance Minister at 1828.

But at the same time, Downing Street is getting worse and worse because of aging, and prostitutes appear from time to time. Therefore, in 1839, it was suggested that all the houses north of Downing Street should be demolished in order to re-plan Whitehall. In addition, public safety has attracted more and more attention. 1843, Edward drummond, secretary of the Prime Minister of Robert Peel, was assassinated on his way back to his apartment at Downing Street 10 in Whitehall.

During the 50 years from 1827 to 1877, almost no prime minister chose to stay at Downing Street 10. Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington once refused to stay because he was too young. In the end, he had to stay at Downing Street 10 because his Apsley house needed to be repaired. As for other prime ministers, such as Lord Melbourne and Viscount Palmston, only Downing Street 10 is used as the meeting place for offices and cabinets. So from 1847 to 1877, Downing Street 10 is unoccupied.

Stepping into 1860s, a brand-new office building of foreign affairs department was built opposite Downing Street 10, which not only has a large open garden, but also has a cabinet meeting room, thus comparing Downing Street 10. 1Benjamin Disraeli, who became prime minister in 868, said that Downing Street 10 was "dirty and shabby" and urgently needed modernization. Benjamin Disraeli 17 moved into the dilapidated Downing Street 10, and decided to renovate the residence that had been vacant for 30 years. Disraeli initially lobbied the National Assembly, hoping that the state would pay the renovation cost in full, but the proposal caused great repercussions. In the end, disraeli had to compromise. The state pays for the renovation of the foyer and the public part, and at the same time pays for the renovation of the private part. It is understood that disraeli spent 150 pounds, 3 shillings and 6 pence to renovate the bedroom and dressing room on the first floor, and added a cold and warm water system in the special dressing room of the first finance minister.

1880 After disraeli stepped down, the newly appointed William Ayvat gladstone insisted on redecorating Downing Street 10. He spent 1555 pounds and 5 shillings on furniture alone, which was a huge sum at that time. In addition, in 1894, he installed electric lights and telephones for Downing Street 10. By the way, Gladstone had the same eccentric interest when he lived at Downing Street 10. He often likes to bring some young prostitutes back to Downing Street and talk with them in detail, hoping that they can abandon prostitution and become good. Therefore, when cabinet members visit Gladstone, they sometimes see young women going in and out of Downing Street.

The prime minister after Gladstone, Marquis of Salisbury, is the last prime minister in history who refused to stay at Downing Street 10. The Marquis of Salisbury especially hated the cabinet meeting room and thought it was "small and stuffy", so he chose to work in the foreign affairs department and lived in Arlington Street. So the Marquis of Salisbury gave Downing Street 10 to his nephew Arthur Balfour, who later became the prime minister (Belfo was also the first prime minister to own a private car). Since Belfo, every prime minister has lived in Downing Street 10, thus establishing the image of his prime minister's office, and the black main entrance of Downing Street 10 has gradually become famous in the world.

During the First World War, the cabinet meeting room at Downing Street 10 became the center of the United front of the British government. Under the leadership of Prime Minister David Lloyd George, the number of office workers at Downing Street 10 has also increased rapidly, and the original office part is not enough, even occupying the garden as an office. The war ended with1918111. People flocked to Downing Street and shouted Lloyd George's English abbreviation "LG". Lloyd George finally appeared in the window on the first floor of Downing Street 10 to show his gratitude.

After World War I, security measures in Downing Street were not relaxed. A 3-meter-high wooden barricade was erected at the end of Downing Street to prevent Irish independence supporters from attacking Downing Street. However, 1922 After the establishment of the Irish Free State, the wooden roadblocks were also removed.

In Britain in the past, officials could only get a meager salary from the monarch, and their daily expenses were maintained by their own wealth. The Prime Minister and other important officials must also employ servants at Downing Street 10 and 1 1. However, in the1920s, james mcdonnell, the first Prime Minister of the Labour Party, took office. At that time, the British economy was in recession, and the wealth was not comparable to those of former prime ministers who were aristocratic landlords. As a result, MacDonald found himself unable to renovate the prime minister's office and had no money to hire servants, because some servants earned more money than he did. MacDonald always hoped to expand the Prime Minister's Library at Downing Street 10, but due to lack of financial resources, all the books in the library were donated by him and other officials. However, this practice has been used to this day. At the beginning of World War II, the wartime Prime Minister Churchill and his wife moved to the second floor of Downing Street 10, and the Cabinet Office moved to a nearby bunker. It is worth mentioning that Churchill had an interesting habit when he was in the Prime Minister's Office. Every morning and evening, he likes to smoke cigars in bed and instruct his secretary to draft speeches, memos and write letters.

1940 In September, Nazi Germany launched a blitzkrieg against Britain and bombed London violently. Downing Street 10 naturally became the target. In the same year, 10, 14, the lawn of the Ministry of Finance near Downing Street was hit by a bomb, which affected the kitchen and several rooms at Downing Street 10. This incident resulted in the death of three civil servants on duty. After the incident, the furniture and valuable cultural relics in the house were moved to a safe place. The room next to the garden was reinforced with iron brackets, and thick iron plates were attached to the windows to prevent further air strikes. These rooms in the garden have been transformed into temporary dining rooms, bedrooms and reception rooms. But in fact, these reinforcement projects do not help to enhance the resistance of houses. In addition, Downing Street 10, except the garden room, only the cabinet meeting room and private secretary's office are still in use.

Churchill first moved to these temporary rooms, but he quickly expressed his dissatisfaction and insisted on working and dining at Downing Street 10, which was almost empty. Therefore, a bomb shelter for six people was built under Downing Street 10. On one occasion, when King George VI and Churchill were having dinner, they used to take shelter from the air raid in this shelter. Although Downing Street 10 was constantly attacked in the war, the overall damage was not serious. Therefore, after the war, Mr. and Mrs. Churchill returned to Downing Street 10, and delivered a V-E day radio speech in the cabinet meeting room at 3 pm on May 8, 1945. With the economic and social changes, Downing Street 10 has also undergone major changes. In addition to a large number of servants in the past, after 1940s, 10 Downing Street expanded its office. This change made the Prime Minister's private residence move to the narrow top floor, which was the former servant room. Therefore, many prime ministers also choose to move elsewhere. Coincidentally, many prime ministers in 19 th and 20 th centuries owned better city mansions than Downing Street 10, and were served by servants of their own class. Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson is an example. During his second term, from 1974 to 1976, Wilson took his property in Lord North Street as his real residence, but with the help of the media, he could still pretend to live at Downing Street 10 in public. Every time he stood at the main entrance of the Prime Minister's Office and asked reporters to take pictures, he would step into the main entrance, then leave from the side door and return to his real residence. In addition, other prime ministers moved to the Admiralty Building in 1960s and 1960s respectively, so that Downing Street 10 could be repaired.

In the 1950s, the structural safety of Downing Street 10 building has gradually become an urgent problem. Building subsidence, wall collapse and distorted door frames have become commonplace. In the cabinet meeting room, the pillars used to support the building for 200 years were found to have only varnish and paint on the outside, while the solid logs inside were already decayed and almost covered with dust. In a word, the whole Downing Street 10 is in danger of collapse immediately. At that time, it was suggested that all buildings in Downing Street should be demolished and rebuilt, but it was finally decided to follow the example of the White House and keep the original appearance of the outer wall of Downing Street 10, while all the interior and foundation were demolished together, and concrete and modern steel were poured again to rebuild the original appearance. When the architect inspected the exterior wall of the Prime Minister's Office, he found that the exterior wall of Downing Street 10 was originally yellow. However, after two centuries of air pollution, the outer wall was smoked to black today. Finally, the architect decided to dye the cleaned yellow bricks black to keep the "traditional" color of the Prime Minister's office.

After years of reconstruction, Downing Street 10 today is actually connected with many buildings. In addition to connecting other houses in Downing Street, the Prime Minister's Office can also lead to some buildings adjacent to the cavalry guard parade ground. As for who got through these buildings, there is no textual research.