The choice of this residence was not accidental. Calle de Alcalá, an urban axis that linked the administrative heart of Madrid with the expanding city to the east, offered close proximity to the Royal Palace, the Ministry of State, and other influential political and diplomatic actors. The building, likely adapted for official and social functions, housed prominent figures such as Sir Henry Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington, and later George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, who played a crucial role in Anglo-Spanish relations during the First Carlist War.

The residence served not only as a diplomatic base but also as a hub for Anglophile sociability in Madrid. From this location, receptions were held, contacts with the foreign press were maintained, and political reports were managed during a period of considerable institutional volatility in Spain—particularly after the death of Ferdinand VII in 1833 and throughout the regency of María Cristina.

Over time, and with the increasing formalization of foreign legations, the British Embassy relocated to more modern premises. The Alcalá property was eventually sold to the banker Santa Marca, who commissioned the construction of one of the new aristocratic mansions that marked Madrid’s expanding bourgeois cityscape. This transformation reflected not only the architectural renewal of the capital but also the broader shift in the diplomatic landscape of the late 19th century.

In the dates of this drawing the figure of the ambassador Henry Unwin Addington (1790–1870) represents a significant episode in Anglo-Spanish relations during the 19th century, in a context marked by political instability and the reconfiguration of the international order following the Napoleonic Wars. A career diplomat and member of a family closely linked to the British Foreign Office, Addington was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to the Spanish Court between 1830 and 1833. His stay in Madrid coincided with the final years of King Ferdinand VII’s reign and the early stages of the succession crisis that would lead to the First Carlist War.

During his mission in Madrid, Addington played a key role in maintaining British influence on the Iberian Peninsula. His diplomatic efforts focused on safeguarding British interests in a politically fragmented and weakened Spain, still reeling from the effects of Napoleonic intervention. Although he did not reside in an official diplomatic building —as the British Embassy at that time lacked a permanent institutional seat in Madrid— Addington was based in a rented house in the city center, most likely near the Royal Palace, as was customary among foreign diplomats.

Indirect sources, such as the memoirs of British travelers of the period, allow us to reconstruct certain aspects of his daily life and sociocultural influence. The hispanist Richard Ford, for instance, highlights the hospitality offered by Addington and his wife to British visitors, many of whom benefited from access to resources such as foreign newspapers, books, and English-speaking circles within their residence. Likewise, the traveler Henry D. Inglis, author of Spain in 1830, stayed with Addington during his visit to Madrid, offering testimony that reinforces the minister’s image as a key cultural and diplomatic link between the two nations.

Addington’s tenure took place during a crucial transitional period: in 1833, King Ferdinand VII died, Queen María Cristina of Bourbon assumed the regency, and the Carlist War broke out. Shortly after these events, Addington was relieved of his post and replaced by George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, who would play an even more active role during the civil war.