History of the Bulkeley

In 1829 someone decided the promised visit of the future Queen Victoria, then Princess of Wales, to Beaumaris warranted the building of what might loosely be called the finest beach house in North Wales.

It is said over 450 houses were demolished to create the space needed for ‘this house with a view’. The house would stand by the sea with uninterrupted views across the Straits to the mountains of Snowdonia. It would be a house fit for the future Queen of the most powerful empire the world had yet seen.

In 1832 the town hosted the Beaumaris Royal Eisteddfod and saw the visit of the Princess Victoria. The evening of August 8, 1832 was a memorable one in the history of the hotel. The heiress to the throne was staying and there was a magnificent dinner to celebrate Sir Richard Bulkeley’s second marriage. Unfortunately the princess did not stay long and the reasons caused some trouble between the Bulkeley family and the Marquis of Anglesey at Plas Newydd near Menai Bridge.

The story goes that someone painted a picture of terror and danger about the cholera then in the town, ending with the suggestion that she might go to Plas Newydd instead. This she did, and the elegant house in Beaumaris stood empty and forlorn. It is said that the decision and the reasons behind it caused something of a rift between the two most important families on Anglesey.

Incidentally it is believed the princess stayed in Room 104. In spite of the curtailing of the visit one can imagine the excitement caused in Beaumaris. The house full of ladies in wide crinoline dresses was one of the reasons the corridors in the hotel are so spacious.

It seems strange to think that this building came into being to accommodate the visit of one person, it says much about those times and the status of its builders the Bulkeley family. They considered such an expense to be well worth the effort for their increased social standing.  Indeed, the royal entourage returned nearly 20 years later in 1851 when the princess had become Queen Victoria.