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Chelsea (Formerly a suburb of London)

formerly a suburb of London, England, now a parliamentary and metropolitan borough of Greater London, on the Thames, opposite Battersea, and chiefly distinguished for containing a royal military hospital, originally commenced by James I. as a theological college, but converted by Charles II. for the reception of sick, maimed, and superannuated soldiers. The building was finished in 1692 by Sir Christopher Wren. Connected with the hospital is a royal military asylum, founded in 1801, for the education and maintenance of soldiers' children. Chelsea has long been and still is the chief residential section in London of writers and artists. In the last century George Eliot, Whistler, Rossetti and Carlyle lived there, and the latter's former home in Cheyne Row is now a public memorial to him. The Chelsea embankment, between Victoria and Battersea bridges, is a famous London riverside promenade.

Chelsea porcelain (1745-1784), enjoys a high reputation. Pop. (1918) 63,130.