Place Names of Calne: Regent Park

Regent Park.

So named as it is an extension of Prince Charles Drive. Prince Charles, it is rumoured, will be made Prince Regent when The Queen reaches the age of 95. This has precedent in the early 1800s when King George III was unable to carry out his duties, with Prince George (future King George IV) being made regent to take over the King's responsibilities[1].

The Regency Act tends to only be acted upon in case of illness and as it is currently worded would only allow Prince Charles to be Regent until The Queen is able to return to her duties, not for abdication. While the Act could be changed, there has been no official comment regarding this situation, making it unlikely that The Queen is currently considering abdication in 2021.

A street naming request for this development was discussed by the Town Development and Planning committee, with a range of options noted as being discussed. With Calne being a 'town of discovery' it was decided to name the streets of this development after scientists that discovered chemical elements.

This 6.7 hectare greenfield site development was initially refused planning permission by Wiltshire Council in March 2016. However, buy June 2016, the Secretary of State allowed an appeal, which led to planning permission being granted as the site was in a sustainable location. Planning permission was gained by Robert Hitchens, upon permission being granted the site was sold to Persimmon, who developed the site.

Cavendish Close
Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), discovered hydrogen in 1766, which he named inflammable gas. It was later named Hydrogen in 1783 by Antoine Lavoisier, who had conversed with Joseph Priestley about what would end up being known as Oxygen in 1774, and named it as such in 1777[2].

Davy Drive
Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was one of the leading scientists of his time. in 1807 Davy isolated, for the first time, potassium and sodium. In 1808, Davy reported to the Royal Society that he had isolated four new metals. He called them barium, calcium, magnium (now known as magnesium), and strontium. While chlorine was discovered in 1774 by Carl Willhelm Scheele, he had thought it contained oxygen and named it "dephlogisticated marine acid". Davy proved that wasn't the case and in 1810 gave the element the name chlorine[3].

Ramsay Road 
Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904, which recognised "his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air", these inert gaseous elements are otherwise known as the noble gases. Ramsay, working with others, discovered argon, neon, krypton, and xenon. He also isolated helium, which had previously not been found on earth, and isolated radon[4].

Rutherford Close

Rutherford Close 
In 1772 Daniel Rutherford (1749-1819) isolated what he called "noxious air", these days this chemical element is known as nitrogen. Between 1786 and 1819 Rutherford was a professor of botany at the University of Edinburgh and the 5th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh[5].

Travers Close
Morris William Travers (1872-1961), worked with Sir William Ramsey when they discovered neon, krypton, and xenon. He also assisted Ramsey in determining the properties of argon and helium. While Travers went on to have a successful career, his time with Sir William Ramsey must have meant a great deal, as he penned A Life of Sir William Ramsay, published in 1956, just a few years before his own death[6].

References:
[1] Royal Central. 2019. Will The Queen make Charles Prince Regent when she turns 95? – Royal Central. [ONLINE] Available at: https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen/will-the-queen-make-charles-prince-regent-when-she-turns-95-115591/. [Accessed 28 August 2019]. 
[2] Wikipedia. 2019. Henry Cavendish - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cavendish#Chemistry_research. [Accessed 28 August 2019].
[3] Wikipedia. 2019. Humphry Davy - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphry_Davy#Discovery_of_calcium,_magnesium,_strontium_and_barium. [Accessed 28 August 2019].
[4] Wikipedia. 2019. William Ramsay - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay. [Accessed 28 August 2019]. 
[5] Wikipedia. 2019. Daniel Rutherford - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Rutherford. [Accessed 28 August 2019]. 
[6] Wikipedia. 2019. Morris Travers - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Travers. [Accessed 28 August 2019].