Three generations of Penrhyns owned The Cedars in East Sheen from 1824 to 1920. They were substantial local philanthropists.

Edward Penrhyn ne Leycester was born in 1794 and died in 1861. In 1817 inherited a fortune from his cousin Lady Penrhyn. In accordance with her will he changed his name to Penrhyn. He was educated at Eton and St. John’s College Cambridge. He was President of the Cambridge Union.. In 1818 he was admitted as a barrister to the Middle Temple.

In 1823 he married Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Stanley (1801–1853), a daughter of the 13th Earl of Derby and a sister of the 14th Earl of Derby, who in 1852 became prime minister. They had two sons:

• Edward Hugh Leycester Penrhyn (1827–1919), first Chairman of Surrey County Council
• Oswald Henry Leycester Penrhyn, (1828–1918), Vicar of Huyton and Canon of Liverpool Cathedral.

In 1823 Edward Penrhyn was “of East Sheen”. He bought the Cedars in 1824. He built Derby Road and Stanley Road. He was largely instrumental in building Christ Church but died before its consecration in 1864.

His son E Leycester Penrhyn was the first chairman of Surrey County Council in 1899. The County Council offices are in Penrhyn Road Kingston upon Thames. He bought the sixteen Model Cottages built by the Labourers’ Friends Society between 1852 and 1858 and built ten more between 1866 and 1870.

In 1920 the family gave a strip of land to allow for the widening of the Upper Richmond Road: see the plaque on the pavement near the junction with Sheen Gate Gardens. Round the corner is Penrhyn Crescent.

The Cedars was demolished in 1930 and replaced by Cedar Court.