Wednesday 2nd December 2009
A Trio of Literary Surrey Ladies by Bronwen Mills
Bronwen
Mills (left) introduced herself as ‘Blue
Badge Guide’ of the last ten years who had graduated from one of a team of Blue
Badge Guides who guided on the National Trust Surrey Hills Explorer Bus which
circulated the highlights of Surrey and with subsequent research found a link
between three outstanding ladies who lives revolved around this part of Surrey
and hence the subject of her talk “Trio of Surrey Literary Ladies”, Bronwen
pointed out each of the ladies in early life suffered from a poor start but made
the grade in spite off.
An
excellent and dynamic speaker, a great pleasure to listen too, but the details
in this report cannot match the vast variety of details presented in an almost
effortless presentation, Bronwen gave us an insight in the lives of firstly
Fanny Burney (left), born in 1752, who was short-sighted, but had a wonderful
eye and ear for mimicry, but did not talk to five or read until nine years old.
She had her first work published when she was about 25 years old, and became a
well known writer, but en route Bronwen gave much details of her family life and
the parts and contacts of her family that seemed to fit together like a puzzle,
culminating as Frances Burney, better known as Fanny Burney and after marriage
as Madame d’Arblay, she was self-educated, and began writing what she called her
“scribblings” at the age of ten. She published her first novel Evelina
anonymously in the late 1700’s when its authorship was revealed, it brought her
almost immediate fame, due to its unique narrative and comic strengths. She
followed with Cecilia, Camilla and The Wanderer. All of Burney’s novels explore
the lives of English aristocrats, as she moved in these circles, and satirized
their social gambits and gossips, this as Bronwen stated was unusual as most
females even of the ruling classes were generally uneducated in the written
word. After a lengthy writing career, and travels that took her to France for
over ten years, she settled in Bath but she died in London 1840.
The second lady was Gertrude Jekyll who had
poor eyesight, but nevertheless had a good eye for colour. She went to Art
School at 15 and became a wonderful garden designer and expert working with
Lutyens. Gertrude Jekyll was born at in London, her family left London and moved
to Bramley House in Surrey where Jekyll spent her formative years, she was an
influential garden designer, writer, and artist. She created many gardens and
contributed a large number articles to contemporary magazines, her association
with the English architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, for whose projects she created
numerous landscapes, and by whom her
home
Munstead Wood in Surrey (border shown left)
was designed, Bronwen digressed to tell us of the almost but not quite romantic
association and the delay during the building process, indeed quoted from a poem
written about the buildings delay to a love sick Lutyens. Gertrude’s work is
known for its radiant colour and the brush-like strokes of her plantings; it is
suggested by some that may have been due to her deteriorating eyesight, which
largely put an end to her career as a painter and watercolourist.
Jekyll was one of the first of her profession to take into account the colour, texture, and experience of gardens as the prominent authorities in her designs, and she was a life-long fan of plants. Her theory of how to design with colour was influenced by painters such as Turner. Later in life, Jekyll collected and contributed a vast array of plants solely for the purpose of preservation to numerous institutions across Britain. Jekyll later returned to her childhood home in the village of Bramley, Surrey she is buried in the churchyard of a local church.
The third lady was the Hon Mrs Ronald Greville, a well known Edwardian hostess noted for her celebrated house parties, and the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth spent part of their honeymoon at her home at Polesden Lacey in 1923. Polesden Lacey ( shown left) was purchased by Mrs Greville, a legendary Edwardian hostess, and her husband in 1906. The house was converted by the architects of the newly built Ritz Hotel, Mrs Greville was most famous as a collector of royalties and her friendship with Edward VII (who thought her 'gift of hospitality' amounted to 'positive genius') inaugurated a lifelong devotion to the House of Windsor. She was especially fond of Queen Mary (consort of George V) and of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, part of whose honeymoon was spent at Polesden in 1923, and whom the childless Mrs Greville loved like a daughter. Mrs Greville was adored by her friends and feared by her rivals, again Bronwen was able to give the narrative that took place about one of Mrs Greville friends who had escaped from France, suggesting she had swam the channel with her maid servant held between her teeth!!
Mrs
Greville bequeathed Polesden Lacey (dining room shown left) to the National
Trust in 1942 in memory of her father, although Bronwen gave details about her
birth that gave rise to suggestions that her father could have been another man
but that history is clouded in doubt, William McEwen her ”adopted father?”, an
Edinburgh brewing millionaire and philanthropist. After Mrs Greville's death,
Polesden was rearranged for public opening, but in the process many of the
secondary and almost all of the bedroom furnishings were sold in 1943. There was
a serious fire in 1960, and although nothing was lost, the original decoration
of several rooms was damaged and had to be replaced. In 1995, after extensive
research, the Trust embarked upon the restoration and rearrangements of the
principal rooms, in order to make their original style and luxury more evident.
This was indeed a perfect presentation to conclude the 2009 Ladies Christmas lunch at the delightful setting of the Kingswood Golf Club and the 115 members and friends enjoyed a real festive occasion and after a vote of thanks by John Coomer the audience responded with spontaneous applause.
It was then left to the President Ken Amess and his wife Margaret to wish all
A Joyful and Happy Festive Season
Margaret on behalf of the Ladies thanked the members for inviting them to such a lovely occasion. Ken also announced the result of the Presidents Charity which this year is being donated to “Help for Heroes” which amounted to over £800.
A selection of photographs of the Ladies Lunch............here
