Sindlesham Court

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from )
Sindlesham Court

Sindlesham Court near Wokingham is a building of historical significance and is Grade II listed (as Berkshire Masonic Centre) on the English Heritage Register.[1] It was built before 1760, as it is shown on Rocque’s Map of 1761. It was the home of several notable residents over the next two centuries. Today it is a venue for weddings, conferences and special events.[2]

Early residents[]

Advertisement for the sale of the house in 1777

The house existed before 1760 because it is shown on John Rocque’s map of 1761.[3] At about this time Sindlesham was also called Sinsom.[4] There is advertisement for the house in 1777 then called Sinsom Lodge which is shown. It describes a very substantial house with two parlours and five bedrooms as well as numerous out buildings.[5]

One of the early owners was Captain Eyre Evans Crowe (1730 - 1804) who bought the house in 1784 and later called it Sindlesham Lodge. He came from a distinguished family and was the cousin of Sir Eyre Coote with whom he served in the 84th Regiment of Foot.[6] He retired in 1784 and became a partner in the first Reading Bank with two other notable figures. However the venture was not a success and he was forced to sell most of his property to repay the losses.[7] He died at Sindlesham in 1804 and the house seems to have been purchased by the Forbes family. Their daughter Jane Forbes (1791-1826) married Thomas Rickman Harman in 1810 and the house came to the Harman family.[8] It was owned by them for the next hundred years.

Later owners[]

Thomas Rickman Harman (1780-1866) was a wealthy stockbroker and landowner from London. He owned a house in Bloomsbury and acquired other properties. He and Jane had six children – three sons and three daughters. When he died in 1866 his son also called Thomas Rickman Harman (1821-1913) inherited the house. By this time the name of the house changed from Sindlesham Lodge to Sindlesham House.

Mrs Graham Smith (seated on the right) with Lord Asquith (standing behind her) and Lady Margot Asquith (standing on the far right)

Thomas Rickman Harman (1821-1913) was born in 1821 in Sindlesham. He also became a stock broker in London and had large land holdings. In 1872 he married Emily Mary Purvis (1831-1891) who was the daughter of Reverend Richard Fortesque Purvis.[9] The couple had no children. The Census of 1881 records them with a ladies maid, a cook, three housemaids and a groom. After Emily died in 1891 Thomas’s two unmarried sisters Fanny and Mary Harman came to live with him. Mary died in 1908 at the age of 83, and Fanny in 1911 at the age of 94. Thomas died in 1913 at the age of 92 and as he had no children he left the house to his niece Mary Jane Betton Foster (1846-1947). She lived there until about 1920 and then appears to have rented it to wealthy tenants.

Portrait of Lucy Graham Smith by Elinor Barnard

In 1928 Lucy Graham Smith (1860-1942) bought the house. She was the sister of Lady Margot Asquith who was the wife of the Prime Minister Lord Asquith. A photo is shown of her with the Asquith family. Her father was Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet and in 1879 she married Thomas Graham Smith who owned Easton Grey House in Wiltshire. The couple had no children. She was a talented watercolour painter and one of her pictures is in the National Portrait Gallery.[10] Her friend Elinor Barnard, another artist, painted her portrait which is shown.

She was a member of an elite social set called "The Souls" which included her other three Tennant sisters, Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, Lady Desborough and other notables of London society. A Book was written about them which gives a detailed description of their social activities.[11] In the book the Tennant sisters were described in the following terms.

"The four famous Tennant daughters are best known under their married names: Lady Ribblesdale, Mrs Graham Smith, Laura Lyttelton and Margot Asquith. Lady Frances Balfour described them as ‘a family highly gifted, of totally unconventional manners, with no code of behaviour except their own good hearts‘. Their entry into London society was lively; indeed, in the instance of the youngest Margot, a vivid assault. They were all renowned for a quality frequently praised by Margot, “ social courage” ; and all were supported morally, socially and financially by their bountiful father, whose generous dowries in the American style made possible their marriages to eligible but impecunious husbands"[12]

Her husband Thomas died in 1908 and for many years she continued to live at Easton Grey House. Then in 1928 she bought Sindlesham House and lived there until her death in 1942. As she had no children she left the house to her nephew Anthony Asquith who is the child in the above photo. It was used during the war by Miles Aircraft as a hostel and training centre.[13]

In 1948 the property was sold to the Salvatorians who added buildings and used it for students who were training for the priesthood. In 1967 it was sold to the current owners.

References[]

  1. ^ English Heritage Register. Online reference
  2. ^ Sindlesham Facebook Page. Online reference
  3. ^ John Rocque Map of 1761. Online reference
  4. ^ An Account of the Charities of the Town and Parish of Wokingham. Online reference
  5. ^ Morning Post, 18 Oct. 1777.
  6. ^ The Berkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 66, p. 122. Online reference
  7. ^ Dawes, M. et al, “Women Who Made Money: Women Partners in British Private Banks 1752-1906”, p. 60. Online reference
  8. ^ The London Magazine, 1821, p. 225. [1] Online reference]
  9. ^ Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 26 October 1872, p. 4.
  10. ^ National Portrait Gallery. Online reference
  11. ^ Abdy, Jane and Charlotte Gere. 1984 “The Souls”. Online reference
  12. ^ Abdy, Jane and Charlotte Gere. 1984 “The Souls”, p. 135.
  13. ^ Sindlesham Court website. Online reference

External links[]

Coordinates: 51°25′19″N 0°53′18″W / 51.42185°N 0.88835°W / 51.42185; -0.88835

Retrieved from ""