The 1st Duke built an exceptionally grand country house called Cannons that, though it was parodied in his lifetime, was a seat of great learning and culture: Handel was the resident composer from 1717 until 1719.
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He was a Knight of the Garter, Baron Chandos, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and Vice-Admiral of Gloucestershire.
Sophia received many gifts from those seeking patronage; e.g. between 1715 and 1720, she received £9,545 from the Duke of Chandos and 1720, was given £15,000 of stock by the South Sea Company, with a bonus of £120 for every point the stock rose above £154.
The story is that Handel, when working for James Brydges the future Duke of Chandos at Cannons between 1717 and 1718, once took shelter from the rain in a smithy, and was inspired to write his tune upon hearing the hammer on the anvil; the regularly repeated pedal note (B in the right hand) in the first variation, can give the impression of a blacksmith hammering.