Thomas More

===Beaufort House===
{{main article|Beaufort House (Chelsea)}}
[[File:Beaufort House, Chelsea from the series Britannia Illustrata 2020.163.jpg|thumb|Beaufort House {{Circa|1707}}]]

As More's royal duties frequently required his attendance at the king's [[River Thames|Thames-side]] palaces in both [[Richmond Palace|Richmond]] and [[Palace of Placentia|Greenwich]], it was convenient to select a riverside property situated between them (the common method of transport being by boat) for his home. In about 1520 he purchased a parcel of land comprising "undisturbed wood and pasture", stretching from the Thames in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] to the present-day [[King's Road]]. There he caused to be built a dignified red-brick mansion (known simply as More's house or Chelsea House) in which he lived until his arrest in 1534.  In the bawdy poem ''The Twelve Mery Jestes of Wyddow Edyth'', written in 1525 by a member of More's household (or even by More himself) using the pseudonym of "Walter Smith", the widow arrives by boat at "Chelsay…where she had best cheare of all/in the house of Syr Thomas More."<ref>Ackroyd (1999) p. 244. Bibliographer [[William Carew Hazlitt]] in his ''Shakespeare Jest Book'' Volume III ({{OCLC| 690506548}}) assigns publication of the work to More's brother-in-law [[John Rastell]], with a date of 23 March 1525.</ref>

Upon More's arrest the estate was confiscated, coming into the possession of the [[Comptroller of the Household|Comptroller of the Royal Household]], [[William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester|William Paulet]].

In 1682, the property was renamed ''Beaufort House'' after [[Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort|1st Duke of Beaufort]], a new owner.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beaver |first1=Alfred |title=Memorials of Old Chelsea |date=1892 |publisher=[[Elliot Stock]]|location=London |oclc=499072940 |pages=118–138|quote=In…1682…Chelsey…was sold to…the first Duke of Beaufort…and henceforth bore [the] name.}}</ref>