Private Life
Those who sought after scandal in the life of Hans Sloane had a hard job, as he apparently lived only for his vocation, his collection and his family. He was married in 1695, to a widow, Mrs Elizabeth Rose (nee Langley), whom he had known in Jamaica. An heiress in her own right, she brought him a considerable fonune.

Sloane was now a multi-millionaire, paying enormous sums for coveted artefacts without a murmur- if he was sure they were genuine. Yet by the sarne token' he coold be almost miserly, as was recorded by an employee, Edmund Howard. Sloane paid him one penny for every three mice or rats caught, but when Howard began getting too successful, Sloane immediately cancelled the bounty. Howard was paid as gardener to Sloane, but to save money, Sloane continually asked him to complete tasks, for which his employee had neither training or experience - ordering him to remove his fragile collection, to demolish an old manor house and sell any material salvaged from the house or assume the job of rent collector

Yet even though Howard was often at variance with him, he nevertheless recorded that Sloane was a fair employer, mindful of his servants welfare and charitable when required. Not infallible perhaps, but Sloane was very much out of the ordinary mould of most folk. He attended upon royalty at their request; he extracted large fees from the rich, yet treated the peor and needy for free, often tendering monetary assistance after curing them.

Sloane was obviously a very agreeable person, as borne out by his making and keeping the friendship of some of the foremost people of his age. He lodged for several years with the Duchess of Albemarle and Dr Sydenham, neither of whom need have tolerated anyone they considered disagreeable.

Further Honours
Sloane's only son died as a child, but he was survived by two daughters. The gift he was to leave to posterity is inestimable and by way of appreciation, a grateful monarch bestowed a knighthootl upon him. He was further honoured when the Society of Apothecaries erected a statue of him in his beloved Physics Garden in Chelsea. Perhaps even fate itself tried to recompense him for having no heir to carry forward his family name, for his name is now perpetuated in no less than a dozen London thoroughfares, the best known of which is Sloane Square.

Sloane was also mentioned in several contemporary poems, of which some were derisory; the most laudable poems included one by the celebrated Alexander Pope. Well over a century later, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was to demonstrate that the name of 'Hans Sloane' had become an accepted by-word for a 'collector extraordinary' by using it in his Sherlock Holmes' tale, The Three Garridebs.

So, from very humble beginnings on the shores of Strangford Lough, with a few plants and birds' eggs, Sloane's accumulation had grown into a priceless collection of over 200,000 items, which formed the nucleus of the British Museum and became the envy of the academic world. His collection, therefore, has, does and will continue to give pleasure and knowledge to multitudes of visitors each year - Sir Hans Sloane would have wished for no better monument.

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