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Temple Newsam and the Meynells #40

<span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> was built by Hugo and Emily Meynell Ingram in 1871 and this week I am delving into the family background of Hugo to explain how Emily came to own the Temple Newsam estate after his death. In 1782, Hugo's grandfather, Hugo Meynell of Quorndon, the 'father of fox hunting', married the Hon. Elizabeth Ingram Shepheard.  She was the daughter of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin and Lord Ingram.  The family seat was Temple Newsam in Yorkshire and this was how the Meynell family became associated with this great house.  Through this marriage of Hugo and Elizabeth, the Meynell family also inherited the Ingram estates in Lincolnshire, acquired by Sir...

The life and times of an upper class family #44

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 later 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 was created 1st Viscount Halifax in 1866 and had a very distinguished political career. The family seats of Garrowby, Pocklington and Hickleton (where Emily was born) had been acquired by his father from the Wentworth family; t...

Summer Balls and Garden Parties #57

Balls and functions held at <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> were lavish affairs, especially before the First World War, with the catering and other services invariably being provided by premier London companies.  Tea dances became popular in the 1880s but Balls with a supper included were also very popular amongst the aristocracy, especially if it was a 'coming out' Ball.  In 1907, Gunter & Co of Berkeley Square, London, could supply a Ball supper and refreshments for ten shillings (50p) a head, plus 'extra services'. For a Ball Supper in January 1913, Mayfair Catering, Grosvenor Square, assured Lady Mary Meynell that they had engaged 'a superior staff of tall waiters'...

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #38

ALICE – THE GHOST IN THE MIRROR:       Whilst researching the history of my former home, <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, I came a<span class='highlight'>crossspan> this fascinating story from author Graham Phillips who had visited the <span class='highlight'>hallspan> to do some research into the story of Alice and the mirror that inspired Lewis Carroll. As many of my regular readers will know, <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> is a very haunted house and so it was incredibly interesting to hear another theory on the ghost of the little girl who haunts the rooms and corridors. In 1865 Lewis Carroll wrote another story about Alice following on from ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It was called ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’. In this story Alic...

Moving On - the end of an era #33

After ten years of growing up in a stately home (<span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>), I have come to the end of my story. After my parents’ divorce it was agreed that my mum bought out my dad's half of the house and he had to leave his dream home forever. He and Gavin moved out to live in Burton-on-Trent and my mum carried on running Mediaeval Banquets for a few more years. She and the singer eventually got together much to my dad’s chagrin. The singer spent a lot more time at the <span class='highlight'>hallspan> helping my mum run the banquets; however, Piers didn’t really get on with him. When he was about 14 years old my dad received a phone call from Piers – he had run away from home and was ring...

Meet the Neighbours - Sudbury <span class='highlight'>hallspan> #79

Continuing the series on neighbouring houses to <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, let me introduce you to Sudbury <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, which is about 7 miles away and on the border of Staffordshire and Derbyshire.  The manor of Sudbury was listed in the Doomsday Book following the Norman Conquest in 1086, so a lot older than the <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, and is a Grade I listed building.  The Vernon family came to Sudbury after a 16th century marriage between Sir John Vernon, from Haddon <span class='highlight'>hallspan> in Derbyshire, and the Sudbury heiress, Ellen Montgomery.  It seems the Vernon family have stayed in the <span class='highlight'>hallspan> for generations right up until the 20th century when the 10th Baron Vernon transferred the <span class='highlight'>hallspan> and its princip...