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Remembered Today:

Does anyone recognize this stately home house of a GrenadierGuard


arantxa

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I’m trying to track where this house is or the village 

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For what it's worth, vehicle numbers were issued by local councils. Pre-1932 it looks like AP was issued in East Sussex, (some sources have Brighton). Of course no guaranree it wasn't second hand or visiting. A car expert may be able to identify the model and so date the earliest it might have been on the road in the UK.

 

The car bonnet is reminiscent of the upmarket Renaults of the era, taxi's that took but there may well be other manufacturers who did something similar.

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/edwardian-renault.html

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1482870

 

Cheers,

Peter

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The village housing to me is reminiscent of Sussex 

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Could the name of you Grenadier help locate the address?

 

Dave

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Hi I don’t have a name some  mitary items and on the back of the photos it just says home that’s all I have to go on under a magnifying glass I can see guards bits on the side board I can also see the reflection in the mirror of the plate camera on a tripod 

photo stamped R L Wareham specialist in architectural photographs 

Sinclair Rd.  W

 

 

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The Rev. George Ferris Whidborne (1845–1910) purchased Hammerwood from Oswald Augustus shortly before the latter's death. Impressed by the unusual and abundant wildlife, he moved his family from Dorset; the Whidbornes would live at Hammerwood from 1901–1921. His eldest son was killed in the First World War; all three were at different times awarded the M.C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerwood_Park#1800–1921:_heyday

 

However Lieutenant George Ferris Whidborne, M.C. died of wounds with the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards. The additional information is that he was the Eldest son of George Ferris Whidborne and Margaret Whidborne, of Hammerwood House, East Grinstead, Sussex. Born at St. George's Vicarage, Battersea, London.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/61786/GEORGE FERRIS WHIDBORNE/

 

His entry in De Ruvignys, (which includes a picture), doesn't mention brothers.

 

The only other brother I could readily identify from the census and civil birth records was a Bertram Seymour Whidborne, Birth registered with the Civil Authorities in the Wandsworth District of London in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1893.

 

A Bertram Seymour Whidborne was awarded his MC while serving with the RFA (TF).

 

A biography of the father says the war also claimed his younger son in 1917.

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/f25918bc-73e4-3ecb-8150-f5dc663776d6

However the only Whidborne shown on CWGC as having died in 1917 was serving in the ranks with the London Regiment so doesn't fit the rest of the narrative. However confusingly the additional information for him is that he was the Son of George Ferris Whidborne and Eliza Mary Whidborne. Was employed on Central Argentine Railway, Buenos Aires.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/506996/GEORGE WARREN WHIDBORNE/

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

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Fantastic  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you every one and PRC

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This memorial volume to George Ferris Whidborne was privately published in 1917. It contains his letters from the front & shows that same picture of Hammerwood House.

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There is a Charles Stanley Lucas Whidborne baptized 7 November 1891, parents given as George Ferris & Lucebella Margarita Whidborne -- she seems to have occasionally Anglicized her name to Margaret. Anyway, the 1901 census puts Charles and his older brother George at boarding school. The 1911 census has him at the Royal Military College. if he is indeed related to the Whidbornes in question, his service does not help to solve the mystery as he was with the Hussars during the war.

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On 16/05/2021 at 01:49, knittinganddeath said:

if he is indeed related to the Whidbornes in question, his service does not help to solve the mystery as he was with the Hussars during the war.

 

One of the contact addresses on the back of his MiC is for Hammerwood.

1215820461_CharlesStanleyWhidbourneMiCsourcedAncestry.jpg.2098f4711c3baa97395ad17da2e1be30.jpg

 

(Image courtesy of Ancestry)

 

He is shown as getting the M.B.E. not the M.C.

The notification of the award of the M.B.E appeared in the Supplement to the London Gazette, 3rd March 1919 (Page 2995).

There is no reference to him gaving a Military Cross at that time.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31210/supplement/2995/data.pdf

 

There appears to be a well documented family tree on Ancestry which may be able to firm up the relationship.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

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Am I right in thinking the only connection to Guards are the Guards' bits on the sideboard? Not sure which photo that is but how is it a known that they are a Grenadier Guard's bits and not the more likely Coldstreamer's bits.

TEW 

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You will be pleased to know the result//the upshot of it is that I rang the owners of Hammerwood park ..the gardens etc art open to the Public..they had these pictures in a brochure ( a sales brochure ) but not the actual photographs so i said they could have them and they were over the moon..three boys fro the family fought in ww1 and they were going to dig some info for me so a happy ending to the story

I may well have got which guards wrong as im not an expert and i seem to always call Guards bit Grenadier guards rather than Coldstream (are they a tougher bunch ? they always seem in books to be in the middle of the action ...but im sure im wrong !!

 

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7 hours ago, dickaren said:

Hammerwood Park?

Richard

What a lovely little thread, with a great conclusion.

 

How did you know/ guess Hammerwood Park, Richard?
 

Mandy

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11 minutes ago, mandy hall said:

What a lovely little thread, with a great conclusion.

 

How did you know/ guess Hammerwood Park, Richard?
 

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

Good old internet!! Googled Sussex country houses and compared pics with the post.

Richard

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32 minutes ago, dickaren said:

Good old internet!! Googled Sussex country houses and compared pics with the post.

 

Kudos to you, it was the key to unlocking the subsequent flood of information :)

 

Cheers,

Peter

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2 hours ago, dickaren said:

Hi Mandy,

Good old internet!! Googled Sussex country houses and compared pics with the post.

Richard

Impressive sleuthing.

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It's doubly great to have a happy ending and see something return to its origins.  So few of those houses of the gentry survived the 1930s and then the 50s-60s, so it's really interesting to see one that did.  I was thinking too how old the still only 25 years old officer looked in his photo in mufti.  Very different to the average 25 year old today.

Edited by FROGSMILE
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As a post script to this thread, I found the volume of George Whidborne's letters (Dust Jacket Collector's post) on the Hathi Trust website. On page 342 George mentions some photographs of Hammerwood sent to him by his sister Rita (Margaret Lucas Whidborne) received in February, 1915. At the time George was a subaltern in ( I think) the 3rd Bn Coldstream Guards involved in the heavy fighting around the Cuinchy brick stacks. Here is the relevant information received by his mother on February 23rd, 1915:
"Just a line, as the men say, to tell you that I am in the pink, and hoping this finds you as it leaves me.
Then they go on to describe how they have charged and bayoneted at least ten Germans off their own bat, when they probably have not seen one for a month.
I want to see another spring. I saw a bush yesterday that, with encouragement, might start. Tell Rita how much I enjoyed her photographs of Hammerwood, though they did make me a bit - well, I should like to be there.

We had a draft of 100 men - dead secrecy - out yesterday luckily, so my platoon is filled up again. they look very good."

I suppose Rita could also have sent the very same photos to Charles (14th Hussars, attached to 20th Hussars), however, according to the letters I skimmed, George had a particular attachment to Hammerwood.

Dave
 

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Yes  it could well be how very interesting !!!!!

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  • 10 months later...

Hello, What a wonderful treat to see these photographs! We have a Whidborne archive here at Hammerwood (relating to the family's tenure of the house (1903-1921) so we'd be happy to purchase the photos and reunite them with the other Whidborne material.. If anyone would like to visit us here, it would be a pleasure to welcome you. There is a memorial plaque to G.F. Whidborne in St Stephen's Church, Hammerwood (now sadly redundant) and there was a wooden (burial?) cross, also displayed there, which was donated to the Guards' Chapel in London a few years ago. We were generously given archive material and other items relating to the Whidorne family by G.F.W.'s descendants.

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On 15/05/2021 at 19:05, arantxa said:

You will be pleased to know the result//the upshot of it is that I rang the owners of Hammerwood park ..the gardens etc art open to the Public..they had these pictures in a brochure ( a sales brochure ) but not the actual photographs so i said they could have them and they were over the moon..three boys fro the family fought in ww1 and they were going to dig some info for me so a happy ending to the story

I may well have got which guards wrong as im not an expert and i seem to always call Guards bit Grenadier guards rather than Coldstream (are they a tougher bunch ? they always seem in books to be in the middle of the action ...but im sure im wrong !!

 

@Hammerwood ParkI thought @arantxa was going to be getting the photos to you? 

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