Cathays Park judges Cathays Park to be "the finest civic centre in the British Isles". The area falls within the Cathays electoral ward. Cathays Park was formerly part of Cardiff Castle grounds. The present day character of the area owes much to successive holders of the title the Marquess of Bute, and especially the 3rd Marquess of Bute, an extremely successful and wealthy businessman. They acquired much of the lands in Cathays through investment and by inheritance through a marriage to Charlotte Windsor in 1766. In 1898, the local council bought of land from the 3rd Marquess of Bute to erect a
Fairwater, Double Bay chairman of this company. The Josephs returned to occupy the house in 1890 and continued to reside there for most of that decade up to 1897 when the house was again tenanted, initially in 1897 by Thomas Buckland (the son of the merchant, pastoralist, and banker - Thomas Buckland), and then by the Royal Navy for the years 1899 and 1901. The Fairfax family ownership of "Fairwater", which continues to this day, commenced in late 1900 with the assignment of the leasehold of 2 acres and 13 perches to James Oswald Fairfax. The purchase price of the leasehold title was