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More tea Vicar? #11

MORE TEA VICAR?     During the long summer holidays it was easy to get bored. As there was no public transport from Hoar Cross and no children living nearby, we three children had to make our own entertainment and we were always having adventures and getting up to mischief – a bit like the Famous Five but without a dog! We would roam around the village or explore the basement. My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over the years including gas masks and field phones from World War 2. The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down there restoring antiques to sell. He had one of the field phones in his workshop...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #14

Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers. The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross. This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross). In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000. Eventually it was sold to Hugo Meynell, who already owned huge amounts of property all over the county. This branch of the Meynell family originated from Leicestershire,...

More Tea Vicar? #12

During the long summer holidays it was easy to get bored. As there was no public transport from Hoar Cross and no children living nearby, we three children had to make our own entertainment and we were always having adventures and getting up to mischief – a bit like the Famous Five but without the dog! We would roam around the village or explore the basement. My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over the years including gas masks and field phones from World War 2. The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down there restoring antiques to sell. He had one of the field phones in his workshop and the other one w...

The Halifax Estates - Garrowby #46

Hugo Meynell-Ingram and his wife Emily Charlotte built Hoar Cross Hall to be their home after getting married in 1863. Emily was the daughter of Sir Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax who owned considerable estates in the north of England. Their wealth came from the discovery of coal on their ancestral estate. In addition to this Sir Charles had a very successful political career, owning many seats in Garrowby and Pocklington near York; Hickleton near Doncaster and a home in Belgrave Square, London. He was a member of the Whig party, which in those days was likened to the Liberal party of today and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846-52. In the 1850...

Queen Alexandra - my family #50

Queen Alexandra was the daughter-in-law of Queen Victoria as she was married to her eldest son and heir, Edward VII. Her family were from Denmark and although of royal blood they were a distant branch of the royal house of Oldenburg and apparently lived very modestly on her father's army commission. However, in 1852 her father, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, was chosen to succeed his second cousin Frederick VII as King of Denmark thus the family's status rose and they moved into a new official residence, Bernstorff Palace. Alexandra, or 'Alix' as she was known was born on 1st December 1844, her full name being Alexandra Caroline M...

Queen Alexandra - my family #52

Here is a final selection of photos from the album of Queen Alexandra, found in the Library of Hoar Cross Hall.  Alexandra enjoyed photography as a hobby and in 1908 put together this album of personal photos of her family to be sold for charity.  It is a fascinating insight into another world, long gone now.  As we lead up to the Coronation of King Charles III it is a reminder of all that has gone before and all that is to come in the future with our hard working royals.     King Edward VII and David Here is the King in relaxed pose with his grandson, David, who later became King Edward VIII.  David became the King in January 1936 and famously abdicat...