CHEQUERS. Chequers Court, near Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, became an official residence of British prime ministers in 1921 through the generosity of its owners, Lord and Lady Lee of Fareham. The estate is about 1,5ooac. in extent.
Here Caractacus had a stronghold, of which the earthworks are still visible. "Radulphus," clerk to the Exchequer, was owner under Henry II., and the place appears to have taken its name from his office. In 1565, his descendant, William Hawtrey, remod elled the house and gave it much of its present character and ap pearance. In the 18th century, a unique collection (which still re mains) of Cromwell portraits and other relics was brought by the Russells, who were descended from one of the Protector's daugh ters. The Russells maintained the Elizabethan house with little alteration, but Robert Greenhill, who inherited from them early in the 19th century, plastered the whole of the outside and redeco rated the interior in Strawberry Hill Gothic fashion.
When the Lees entered on a long tenancy in 1909 they sought to reveal all the remaining ancient features, and to introduce others characteristic of the days of the Hawtreys and the Russells. In 1917 Lord and Lady Lee changed their tenancy into a freehold, and created a trust, which, on their deaths should make the house an adequate seat where the prime ministers could entertain guests. The original draft for the Chequers Trust declared that :—"The main features of the scheme are, therefore, designed not merely to make Chequers available as the official country residence of the prime minister of the day, but to tempt him to visit it regu larly, and to make it possible for him to live there, even if his income should be limited to his salary. With this object a suffi cient endowment is provided to cover the cost of a permanent nucleus staff of servants, of keeping up the gardens and grounds, of maintenance and repairs, and other necessary outgoings. There is also a residential allowance for the official occupant calculated in a fashion deliberately designed to encourage regular week-end visits." The draft, however, insisted upon the unaltered preserva tion of both house and contents.
In 1920 Lord and Lady Lee resolved that this generous scheme should not await their death but should take immediate effect. All the preparations for establishing and working the trust having been completed, the prime minister held his house-warming on Jan. 8, 1921. His successors have spent part of their time here during their terms of office and ministerial week ends at Chequers Court have become a part of English political life.