Chequers, in the Chilterns near Wendover (Bucks.), was given in 1917 by Lord Lee of Fareham as a country residence for the prime minister. It was first used by Lloyd George in 1921. Lee, a Conservative MP first elected in 1900, was an admirer of Lloyd George, served as director-general of food production in 1917, and moved to agriculture in 1919 and to the Admiralty in 1921. He was given a barony in 1918 and left office when the coalition broke up in 1922. The house has a Tudor core, with Victorian additions and substantial remodelling by Lee 1909–12. Among its more remarkable features is a fine collection of paintings including Constables, Reynolds, Van Loos, and Raeburns.

J. A. Cannon

Chequers a Tudor mansion in Buckinghamshire which serves as a country seat of the British Prime Minister in office; it was left to the nation for this purpose by the British politician and philanthropist Lord Lee of Fareham (1868–1947).