Henry William Portman was an 18th century housing developer, the ancestor of the Viscounts Portman. He developed 200 acres of meadow in London he had inherited from his Tudor ancestor Sir William Portman, turning it into the Portman Estate. He began issuing its first building leases in 1755, and building began in 1764 with Portman Square, which was to owe its popularity to buildings by Robert Adam and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart.