The first headquarters of the newly fledged Society of Chemical Industry was established in 1881 at Palace Chambers, Bridge Street, Westminster, London. After a series of changes of address, the society finally moved to its fifth and present location at 14/15 – and initially 16 – Belgrave Square in 1955. Owned by the Duke of Westminster, along with the rest of Belgravia, the building was and still is part of the Grosvenor Estate and had recently been commandeered by the Ministry of Defence during World War II. The former Nazi commander Rudolf Hess is believed to have been interrogated in the building after he flew to Britain late in the war.