Royal Naval College, Osborne place somewhere other than the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. The Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Ernest Pretyman, asked the House of Commons for an increase of £400,000 in Vote 10 of the Navy Estimates for 1903–1904. He said that King Edward had indicated that he wished to present Osborne House and its grounds to the nation, thus providing "a most admirable site, in a situation second to none" for a naval establishment. Pretyman went on to explain that several new buildings were needed, and he hoped they would be ready by August. There would be a large gymnasium and recreation
Royal Naval College, Greenwich Christopher Wren and built between 1696 and 1712, then intended to serve as the Greenwich Hospital, a home for disabled sailors. This closed in 1869, when the pensioners were transferred to other places, leaving the buildings available for a new use. The site of the former hospital had once been occupied by the medieval Palace of Placentia, or "Palace at Greenwich", begun by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in 1428. After the Royal Navy departed in 1998 the buildings were opened to the public as the Old Royal Naval College. The President of the College was a full-time post until 1982