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Temple Newsam and the Meynells

TEMPLE NEWSAM AND THE MEYNELLS:     On 11th August 1863, Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram married the Hon. Emily Charlotte, daughter of Sir Charles Wood, Bart, afterwards 1st Viscount Halifax.  The Woods were an old gentry family, for many centuries respectable York merchants.  They were to turn grand upon the discovery of coal beneath their ancestral estates.  This was the great Barnsley field, with several hundred acres of Britain's deepest and finest coal.  Sir Charles Wood had a distinguished political career and they owned family seats at Garrowby, Pocklington, near York and Hickleton, near Doncaster.  They also owned a London house in Belgrave Square....

Calendar Girls and Front Covers #7

CALENDAR GIRLS AND FRONT COVERS:        During our time at Hoar Cross Hall people would occasionally hire the house for a day’s filming or whatever.   During the summer of 1973 a photographer from London hired the place for a day and he brought two models with him, one English and one German, and they were taking photos for a glamour calendar.  We were told to keep right out of the way as they were taking photos in the gardens as well as the house.  Naturally we wanted to see everything that was going on and my younger brother Gavin especially was very keen to watch – so much so that he found a pair of binoculars to follow all the proceedings!  We m...

Eat, Drink and be Merry! #10

...trips to London for sales at Sothebys or Christies auction houses.  I once went with him and we spotted the actor Rodney Bewes from The Likely Lads TV programme – he pulled up next to Sothebys in his Rolls Royce! My dad’s antique collection continued to grow as he couldn’t resist a bargain and he would often go to a sale to get one thing and come back with something else – much to my mother’s annoyance!  Once he was meant to get more Bentwood chairs for the café and he came back with hundreds of silver spoons as he thought they would be more useful to sell to the visitors!  He loved a bargain as he was very ‘careful’ with his money and liked...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #33

...ssador in London – from which source Inez assumes her Christian name originated. There was little choice but to go into service in those days (her sister, Beatrice, was also a nursery maid with the Earl and Countess of Lichfield), and she was engaged on a salary of £18 per annum. Her mother made her uniform, which comprised of a morning dress and an afternoon dress, and Lady Dorothy Meynell supplied her cap. She was the personal maid to Lady Dorothy’s eldest daughter, Dorothy, who was just four years younger than Inez. She also looked after Dorothy’s younger sister, Rachael. The schoolroom at this time was situated just off the main Entrance Hall, and i...

What the Butler Saw! #35

...fits from London firms. With their plush breeches, silk stockings and powdered hair, they were the ‘peacocks’ among domestics. Footmen were responsible for answering the door, delivering messages and waiting-on in the evening. There were numerous footmen in the large houses but probably only two or three at Hoar Cross. They were constantly leaving to better themselves as butlers were usually picked (or ‘head hunted’) from the footmen, but they would only consider men who were tall and well built. John Barnaby was the first footman at this time and he left in 1932 to be succeeded by Albert Kennard. George Barnaby, his brother, was the second footman. All...

The War Years and Beyond #37

...l home in London was offered to the War Office and the Red Cross and became a Military Hospital for officers, being used by Francis Meynell himself who was wounded in action. One feature at the Hall was the daily barometric readings; these had been taken since 1880 up until the Second World War, when readings ceased. The Clerk of Works at Hoar Cross, namely one F W Lycett, had kept a meticulous Meteorological Register in the early years of the century. He kept them in two large leather-bound volumes, the last entry being in February 1941. Once the war was over things got back to some sort of ‘normality’; however, times had changed and women were no longer...