HAILE first became a seat of the Ponsonby family when one William Ponsonby married Constance, daughter of Alexander de Haile, in about 1295. Its recent and exemplary restoration, recognised by a special commendation at the Georgian Group Awards earlier this month (‘Georgian distinction’, October 2), and also at the Historic Houses Awards last year, is the most recent chapter in a remarkable story of revival and survival that has kept this family link alive against all the odds through the vicissitudes of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The family connection with Haile is a complex one. A 17th-century descendant of William and Constance, Sir John Ponsonby of Haile, one of Cromwell’s officers serving in Ireland, acquired land in Co Kilkenny. This Irish property descended to his younger sons Henry and William, who established one of the great Anglo-Irish Whig dynasties, the line of the Earls of Bessborough.
Haile, meanwhile, was inherited by Sir John’s eldest son and namesake and left the possession of his heirs when the senior Cumberland line of the family died out in the early 19th century. It was 100 years later that the junior branch returned to the property. It did so in the remarkable figure of Maj-Gen Sir John Ponsonby DSO (1866– 1952), son of Queen Victoria’s legendary private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, and a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough.
After a military career in the Coldstream Guards and a distinguished role commanding the 5th Division during the First World War, Sir John bought back his ancestral home in remote Cumberland. In 1935, when he was 69, he married the 34-year-old Mary Robley, known as Mollie, who outlived him by 50 years, dying aged 101 in 2003. In her old age, as things fell into decay around her, Mollie used to say deprecatingly that she had promised Sir John to keep the house going, but ‘I didn’t know I would live to be so old!’
Denne historien er fra October 30, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 30, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
