EAST HADDON HALL - DOCUMENTS
Untitled paper, signed ‘ML’
From the point of view of the inhabitants of East Haddon, the Suffolk (Coney Weston) Sawbridges must have arrived as complete strangers. Edward Henry Sawbridge had certainly visited his cousin there on at least one occasion in his youth; but he was 35 years younger than Henry Barne Sawbridge, and there was little intercourse between them, though they appear to have been on kindly terms.
With Grace Sawbridge it was a somewhat difficult matter, at any rate during her widowhood. As you no doubt know, Henry Barne was already 58 when he married her. She was a widow, considerably younger than he, and had several children by her first marriage. She survived her second husband by over 20 years, and it was a source of annoyance to Edward Henry that throughout that time her children were enabled to enjoy the amenities of East Haddon at the expense of his own family, the heirs of the bloodline. The mattern was aggravated by an instruction in Grace’s will that the entire contents of the Hall were to be sold by auction on her death; I understand that she had previously offered Edward Henry the chance to buy them at a market valuation, but he had declined it, though whether because he could not afford it or he considered the contents his by right, I do not know.
Consequently he came to East Haddon as a virtual stranger when he at last entered into his inheritance. He was already a sick man, and it was believed in the family that the upheaval and excitement of this change in circumstances shortened his life; he was only 61 when he died. His obituary notice refers mainly to his time in Suffolk, but it goes on to say, “He succeeded to the family estate of East Haddon, Northamptonshire, in 1872, and, in spite of a most painful illness, he planned the construction of much-needed schools and other good works.....”. The only photograph I have of him from this period shows him in a wheelchair; but whether he was entirely confined to it I do not know.
After his death his widow Fanny Isabella (called by the latter name) remained at the Hall until the marriage of their son and heir, Captain Edward Henry Bridgman (sic) Sawbridge. Her widowed daughter Mary Wodehouse lived there with her. The arrangement, through no fault of their own, was a most unhappy one; for the mother was a fresh air fiend and stone deaf, whilst the daughter was delicate and bronchial. Neither could long endure the atmosphere of the other’s room, and whenever Mary braved the rigours of her mother’s sitting-room she started laryngitis almost immediately, and could scarcely make herself heard even through the latter’s large ear trumpet. It must have been a strange episode in the Hall’s history.
This state of affairs came to an end in 1877, when the pair returned to Coney Weston, Suffolk, on the marriage of Captain Edward Sawbridge, who until that time had been serving with the Army in India. He had, I think, once obtained leave to visit his mother at East Haddon, and on that occasion, had set foot in the place for the first time. His bride was Bertha Glossop , a most beautiful girl considerably his junior, and heiress to a very large fortune – so large indeed that Captain Sawbridge found himself compelled (much to his grief) to retire from the Army because his insurers would not permit so valuable a life to be exposed to the hazards of war.
Bertha hated East Haddon; she was delicate and found the place far too cold, and she did not hunt. Consequently even during their ownership of the Hall they often spent long periods elsewhere. Their daughter’s account of life there covers most of what I know of it.
The reference in this account to the outbreak of diphtheria (sic) will no doubt be of interest to you if you do not already know about it. I cannot tell you the exact year; but my cousin Mary was born in 1882, and as I interpret her remarks as meaning she was eight at the time of the epidemic, it must have occurred in or about 1890.
You will see that Captain Sawbridge’s obituary notice refers to army service in Africa. This I regard with suspicion. One would suppose that his relatives supplied the information for the notice, but I never heard of him serving ove3rseas other than in India, where he certainly spent several years. I was also under the impression that his regiment was the Warwickshires, but since I know that that regiment has merged with another, both statements may be true. I could probably check these points by more extensive delving among my archives if you require the information; but I do not suppose you will be going into such detail about the Captain’s early life.
As I Understand it, Captain Sawbridge never lived at Boxford. I think this property was bought after his death as a home for his widow and her two unmarried daughters. After leaving East Haddon the family had had several homes, always rented I believe. They lived for a longish time at a Hall near Alton in Hampshire; the exact name escapes me for the moment, but I could probably find it if you require it. At the time of his death, as you will see, the Captain was living at Denford House near Newbury; it is also near the villages of Wickham and Welford, with which the Sawbridges had considerable ancestral connections – hence Edward’s burial at the latter place rather than at East Haddon.
I cannot think of anything more to tell you of your specified period 1874-1893, though I could say a lot about the earlier years. If there are any questions you would like to raise (about either the later or the earlier periods), I will do my best to answer them.
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As regards the Lordship of the Manor – oddly enough I have never given any thought to this subject. I now find from a printed record I Have that it appears to have been originally vested in Henry Sawbridge, but I cannot recollect seeing any reference of any sort to it in any of the considerable number of original documents that I have. Mrs. Wrathall could perhaps help you on this point better than I can. I should be most interested to hear of your findings.
Signed by hand M.L. 25 Jan. 86