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Queen Alexandra - my family #50

...the King George VI and grandfather to our own King Charles. Even more fascinating are photos of the former Empress of Russia with her four grand-daughters on board the Emperor's yacht 'Standart' – the little girls looking so pretty in their matching dresses and hats. The Empress was actually Alexandra's sister, Dagmar and there are lots of photos of them together as a family travelling around Denmark and Norway. Towards the end of the album is a picture of 'the Nimrod' setting sail for the south pole in 1907 with Captain Earnest Shackleton at the helm, after being inspected by King Edward and Queen Alexandra. Such historic photographs are priceless but espec...

Meet the Neighbours - Sudbury Hall #79

...Continuing the series on neighbouring houses to Hoar Cross Hall, let me introduce you to Sudbury Hall, 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 Hall, and is a Grade I listed building.  The Vernon family came to Sudbury after a 16th century marriage between Sir John Vernon, from Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, and the Sudbury heiress, Ellen Montgomery.  It seems the Vernon family have stayed in the Hall for generations right up until the 20th century when the 10th Baron Vernon transferred the Hall and its princip...

Royal VIsitors at Hoar Cross Hall #20

...come King George VI and the Queen Mother). They may have VIsited during one of their tours of the Midlands and it may have only been for afternoon tea as we're not sure due to insufficient records, but we do know that the Meynell family proVIded hospitality for the Princess Royal, probably in the 1920s and for whom a special bathroom containing a marble-enclosed bath was installed on the first floor of the house. So maybe the family came for tea whilst dropping off Princess Mary for her VIsit – at least the servants didn't have to go into too much of a cleaning frenzy for them! However, haVIng one royal stay for a few days still disrupted things quite a bit it...

Royal VIsitors at Hoar Cross Hall #49

...come King George VI and the Queen Mother). They may have VIsited during one of their tours of the Midlands and it may have only been for afternoon tea as we're not sure due to insufficient records, but we do know that the Meynell family proVIded hospitality for the Princess Royal, probably in the 1920s and for whom a special bathroom containing a marble-enclosed bath was installed on the first floor of the house. I remember an extra bathroom in the east wing of the house at the end of the corridor, which did seem a strange place to put a bathroom - I now know that this was Princess Mary's bathroom!  (see header picture of Queen Mary and her daughter). So maybe...

Royal VIsitors at Hoar Cross Hall #10

...come King George VI and the Queen Mother). They may have VIsited during one of their tours of the Midlands and it may have only been for afternoon tea, but we do know that the Meynell family proVIded hospitality for Mary, the Princess Royal, probably in the 1920s and for whom a special bathroom containing a marble-enclosed bath was installed on the first floor of the house. So maybe the family came for tea whilst dropping off Princess Mary for her VIsit – at least the servants didn't have to go into a cleaning frenzy for them! However, haVIng one royal stay for a few days still disrupted things quite a bit it seems if they had to build a bathroom for her!  I...

The Church of the Holy Angels #55

...Many stately homes had churches built near them or even a chapel inside them, as was done at Hoar Cross Hall. However, the church that was built in the grounds of the Hall became known as 'The Cathedral of the Midlands' due to its magnificent structure and is generally regarded as one of the finest VIctorian churches in the country. It resembles a cathedral in miniature, being more like an English minster than a humble VIllage church. When Emily Meynell Ingram's husband, Hugo died in 1871 from a hunting accident, she wanted to keep his memory alive. They had only been married for eight years and she had no children to comfort her and so in 1872 she commissioned...