Those Wild Wyndhams

by Claudia Renton

  Tennant (née Wyndham), Lady Glenconner, Pamela Genevieve Adelaide xv–xvii, 17, 18, 19, 44; ‘adopted baby’ Oliver Hope 307–9, 329–30; America, visits 355–6; appearance xv–xvi, xvii–xviii, 121, 122, 187, 213, 251, 257; Baker–Carr and 154, 157, 160, 165, 183; ‘Benjamina’ nickname xviii, 135; birth 11, 12; Bosie Douglas and 107, 290; Buckingham Street house 356–7; character xv, 103, 105, 121–2, 127–8, 135, 138, 145–6, 148, 149, 152–3, 156–7, 191–6, 202, 226–7, 257–9, 289, 290, 291–2, 326–7, 360–1, 365; Charlie Adeane and 103; Charty Ribbesdale, spats with xv, xvi, 195–6, 218; childhood 12, 17, 19, 22, 28, 44, 58, 60, 103, 105, 111, 112, 115; children and 192, 194, 222, 226–7, 251, 253, 328–9, 334, 336, 338–9, 341–2, 343–4, 346, 348, 360–1, 362 see also under individual child name; Clouds and 63–4, 75, 76, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 193, 195, 196, 374–5; Coronation Durbar, attends 239, 240; death 365–7; debut 115, 121, 122, 127–8; depression 157–8, 162–5, 287–8; Drummy and 163, 164–5; Edward Grey and 226, 252, 291–3, 315, 358–9, 360, 361–3; Edward Wyndham Tennant 21, 341–2; eugenic theory and 360–1; at Falloden 251–2; at Florence 181–4, 195; First World War and 306, 307–9, 315, 316, 317, 319, 322, 328–30, 334, 336, 337–8, 339, 341–2, 343–5; General Election, 1900 and 218; George Wyndham and xiii, 197, 211, 247–8, 256; Glen and 192–3, 195, 220, 287, 288; Henry Cust and 133–8, 145–6, 148–51, 152–3, 157, 158, 159, 163–4, 182, 195, 291–2, 338–9; Hester, death of and 328, 329–30, 334, 345; honeymoon 191; India, visits 149–50, 152–60; Mananai Wyndham and 111, 112, 115, 154, 160, 183, 202, 207, 211, 212, 368; Margot Asquith and xv, 194, 195, 222, 228, 256–7, 288, 315–16, 346, 357–8; marriage, first xv, 181–4, 186–7, 191–6, 251, 349, 355, 356, 358, 359; marriage, second 358–62; Mary Wyndham and 22, 47, 58, 63–4, 109, 110, 122, 127, 129, 135–7, 142, 145–6, 163–4, 169, 183, 195–6, 202, 222–3, 224, 239, 240, 248, 273, 307–8, 328, 368; menopause 361; miscarriage 360; parents and 18, 19, 28, 78, 110, 122, 134–5, 137, 145, 146, 148, 149, 152–2, 165, 182, 186–7, 195, 196, 197, 202, 239, 247, 265, 352, 374–5; Patron of Mother’s Clinic, Holloway 360; pilgrimage back to Clouds, 1928 374–5; politics and 217–18, 220, 251–2, 273, 287; Queen Anne’s Gate house and 253, 258, 289, 291, 292, 316, 329, 343, 344, 356, 358; singing and guitar playing 122, 154, 156, 160, 200; social life/Society, attitude towards xv–xvi, 127–8, 195–6, 288, 289, 290; Souls and xv, 123, 146, 191, 192; spiritualism and 78, 344–6, 355–6, 357, 365; Stockton House and 194, 195; Stopes and 191–2, 346–8, 360–1; ‘The Babe’ 121; The Book of Peace 211; The Children and the Pictures 227; The Earthen Vessel 343–4, 345; The Sayings of the Children 227; The White Wallet 289; Village Notes 199; visit to Ireland, 1888 115; wealth 252–3; Wilsford Manor and 253–6; writing 197–9, 211, 227, 257, 288, 341–2, 343–4, 345 see also under individual publication name; Wyndham Sisters portrait and xvi–xix, xx, 200, 202, 203, 212, 213

  Tennant, Stephen 195, 227–8, 252, 255, 292, 293, 308, 345, 356, 357, 358, 361, 362–3, 364, 365, 366, 367

  Tennyson, Alfred, Lord 7, 77

  Tennyson, Lionel 316

  Terry, Ellen 24, 38

  Thatched with Gold (Airlie) 22, 38

  Thompson (‘Tommy’) (valet) 6, 9, 75

  Transvaal 196, 205, 213

  Treaty of London, 1839 299

  Treaty of Vereeniging 223, 233

  Treaty of Versailles, 1919 354

  Tree, Herbert Beerbohm 24, 131, 205

  Trussler, Rebecca 227, 293, 308

  Tweedsmuir, Lady 90, 91

  Tynan, Katherine 16, 220, 248

  United States 242, 345, 355

  Vernon, George 311, 317

  Vesci, Evelyn de 55, 115, 126, 128, 139, 140, 167, 170, 173, 174, 176, 177, 178, 319, 333, 371–2

  Vesci, John de 115, 140

  Victoria, Queen 6, 7, 26, 29, 32, 33–4, 61, 84, 100, 103, 104, 129, 161, 162, 163, 196–7, 223

  Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) 306, 313

  Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire 92, 123

  War Office xvi, 201, 205, 206, 209, 234, 243, 308, 326, 345

  Watts, George Frederic xx, 7, 14, 17, 29, 77, 200, 203, 213, 371

  Webb, Beatrice 218, 220, 229, 230

  Webb, Godfrey 55, 59, 64, 75, 86, 88

  Webb, Philip 25, 71, 74, 76, 196, 255, 276

  Webb, Sidney 220, 229

  Wedgwood, Eliza 306, 307, 353

  Welby-Gregory, Lady 148

  Welby, Charles 150

  Wells, H. G. 207, 209, 229, 231, 234

  Wemyss, Annie, Countess of 44, 45, 54, 61–2, 69, 169

  Wemyss, Lord 40, 44, 45, 46, 47, 53, 54, 57–8, 63, 169, 216, 261, 262, 264, 295, 298–9, 319

  Westminster, Duke of 95, 98, 142, 149, 305

  Westminster, Hugh ‘Bend’Or’ 95, 282, 363

  Whibley, Charles 231, 311

  Whigs 13, 33, 34, 84–5, 89, 242, 243, 256

  Whistler, James McNeill 28, 29–30

  Whistler, Rex 362

  White, Daisy 92, 118–19, 233–4

  White, Harry 94, 118–19, 130

  White, Sir George 205, 206

  White’s 128, 181

  Whittingehame, Scotland 30, 94, 109, 148, 370–1

  Wilbury Park, Newton Toney 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 32, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 56, 58, 60, 61, 63, 72, 75, 77, 247

  Wild, Ernest 345

  Wilde, Constance 130

  Wilde, Oscar 16, 25, 29, 89, 102, 130, 131, 133, 165, 167, 179–81, 182, 291

  Wilkes (‘Wilkie’), maternity nurse for the Charteris children 70, 129

  Wilkinson (‘Wilkie’), private secretary to Mary Wemyss 352, 353

  Wilsford Manor, Wiltshire 253–7, 258, 259, 265, 279, 290, 291, 292, 293, 308, 317, 322, 343, 344, 348, 356, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 364, 365, 366

  Wilton House, Wiltshire 39–40, 88, 92, 117, 233, 235

  Wiltshire Downs xvi, 18, 22, 114

  Wiltshire xvi, 15, 18, 22, 55, 83, 92, 114, 193, 198, 199, 226, 253, 299, 339, 373, 374

  Winchester School 293, 304

  Women’s Liberal Association 218

  Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) 269

  Wyndham, Sir Charles 166–7

  Wyndham, David 294, 323, 348

  Wyndham (née Lister), Diana 296

  Wyndham (née Brooke), Edwina ‘Minnie’ 133, 142, 157, 200, 204, 208, 310, 350–1

  Wyndham, Dick 310, 350–1, 363–4, 371

  Wyndham, George xvi, 106, 113, 115, 141, 177; affair with Gay, Lady Plymouth 96, 181, 296, 354; Balfour and 31, 98–9, 106, 238; birth 9, 11; Boer War and 196, 205, 206, 209–11, 213; Cabinet, brought into 238; childhood 5, 8, 12, 20–1; Clouds and 88, 119, 120, 279–80; Crabbet Club and 131; Cust affair and 145, 148; death 296–8; Eton 23, 24; fame 213; father’s death and 278, 279; Fenian sympathies 3, 106; health 58; inheritance 279; Ireland’s Chief Secretary 220–1, 243–9; journalism 197; La Chanson de Marie-des-Agnes (Richepin), sends to Pamela Tennant xiii; Land Purchase Act, 1903 and 241, 243; Life and Letters of George Wyndham (Mackail/Wyndham) 244, 362; marriage 47, 95–6, 98–9; Mary Wyndham and 186, 187–8, 243; military career 62, 63, 64, 75, 76; MP for Dover 121, 220, 274; naval reform, campaigns for 256, 298; nervous exhaustion 208, 243–9; Pamela Wyndham and 122, 157, 182, 183, 186–7, 191, 192, 196, 197, 198; Parliament Bill, 1911 and 281–2, 283, 285, 286, 298; prep school 23; private secretary to Arthur Balfour 98–9, 106, 107, 109, 115, 116; resigns as Ireland’s Chief Secretary 243–9; return to backbenches, 1906 as ‘incorrigible Tory’ 256, 298; Rodin bust of 371, 374; Souls and 89, 95, 102, 131, 265; ‘special neurotic phenomena’, on Wyndham family 10–11; Sudan, service in 62, 63, 64, 74, 75; tariff reform, campaigns for 267, 298; Under-Secretary in the War Office xvi, 201–2, 205, 206, 209–10; Wilde case 131, 180, 181, 182; ‘Wyndham-religion’, remarks upon 20

  Wyndham, George (son of Guy Wyndham) 310, 319

  Wyndham, Guy 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 22, 23, 27, 48, 50, 58, 75, 97, 102, 103, 107, 116, 133, 142, 154, 157, 184, 200, 204, 206, 207, 208, 211, 244, 245, 261, 278, 279, 310, 319,
322, 332, 350–1, 363, 373

  Wyndham (née Campbell), Madeline: affair with Wilfrid Blunt 15–19; ambitions for family 15, 200; ancestry xx, 5; appearance 4, 7, 14, 17, 18; artist, talented amateur 7; Boer War and 208; breakdown 148, 152, 153; character 1, 4, 5, 7, 10–11, 14–15, 76–7, 110, 119, 146, 148, 152, 201; childhood 1, 5–6, 81, 154; Clouds and xvi, 15, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 116, 118, 119, 120, 374–5; Cust affair and 134, 135, 137, 146, 148, 152; death 354–5; death of husband and 279; devotion to children 5, 8, 12, 20–1, 22, 26, 51, 322; finances 5, 11–12, 279; First World War and 322, 348; Florentine earthquake and 184; frankness with daughters over health matters 51; ‘Gan-Gan’ (grandmotherly duties) 279, 317; George Wyndham and 95, 247–8; golden wedding anniversary 276; grave 374; Guy Wyndham and 200; Ireland, outlook on 106; Mananai Wyndham 105, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 206–7, 224, 232; marriage 1, 2, 4–5, 12, 15–19, 276, 278–9; Mary Carleton death and 108, 110; Mary Wyndham and 1, 9, 14–15, 20, 29, 32, 38, 39, 40–2, 44, 45, 47, 48–9, 50, 51, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 80–1, 101, 145, 169, 184, 186; mental health/nerves 10–11, 48, 110, 119, 146, 148, 152, 153, 201, 247; old age 351; Orpen portrait of 276, 357, 371; Pamela Wyndham and 134–5, 137, 146, 148, 152, 165, 182, 186–7, 196, 202, 374–5; School of Art and Needlework, helps found 7, 29; set 6–7; smoking 7; social gradations, awareness of 14–15; spiritualism and 77, 78; staff and 80–2; The Spoils of Poynton, as model for Mrs Gereth in 15; Watts portrait of xx, 14, 29, 203, 213, 371; Whistler libel case against Ruskin and 28; Wilsford and 253; winters in France 143; Wyndham Sisters portrait and xx, 212, 213

  Wyndham, Maud 47

  Wyndham, Percy: appearance 276; Belgrave Square house and 12; Boer War and 208; Bradlaugh Affair and 34; character 1, 11, 18, 28, 278, 279; childhood 6; Clouds and xvi, 25, 27, 28, 72–3, 74, 75, 76, 78, 114, 116, 117, 120, 208, 278, 374; Cust affair and 137–8, 139, 145, 149, 152–3; death 278–9, 296, 298, 329; devotion to children 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 20–1, 47, 137–8, 366; estate 279; finances 5, 11, 25, 279, 298; Florentine earthquake and 184; George Wyndham and 9, 63, 111, 180, 181, 210, 247–8, 265, 276, 279; golden wedding anniversary 276; health 266–7, 276; inheritance and 11–12; Mananai Wyndham and 103, 105, 108, 223; marriage 1, 2, 4–5, 10, 15, 18, 19, 56, 110, 274, 276–7; Mary Wyndham and 1, 2, 10, 11, 44–5, 48, 52–3, 58, 59, 64, 65, 102, 103, 111, 137–8, 139, 189, 216, 249, 251, 270, 277; Orpen portraits, commissions 276; Pamela Wyndham and 122, 145, 149, 152–3, 187, 197, 239; parents and 1, 5, 6, 11; political career/opinions 1, 13–14, 17, 26, 27, 34, 43–4, 83, 84, 242, 249, 251, 263–4, 273–4, 276, 277; predicts demise of aristocracy 273–4; set 6–7; staff and 81–2; stroke 266–7; superstitions 78–9; ‘the Hon’ble P’ 1, 181; Watts portrait of Madeline Wyndham, commissions 14; Whistler’s libel suit against Ruskin and 28; Whistler’s Nocturne, buys 29; Wilde case and 180, 181; will 279; Wyndham Sisters portrait, commissions xvi, xvii, xx, 200

  Wyndham, Percy ‘Perf’ (son of George Wyndham) 296, 297, 298, 302, 309–10

  Wyndham (née Leverson), Violet 363

  Wyndham, Sir William 256

  Acknowledgements

  Writing thanks for a project that has taken some eight years from inception to publication is a daunting prospect. My first debts are to Anthony Cheetham, who came up with the idea for this book, and to my incomparable agent Georgina Capel, who with extraordinary tenacity has brought that idea to fruition. Without them, this book would never have come into being. Then thanks are to my clear-sighted editor Arabella Pike at William Collins, whose incisive comments have immeasurably improved the work; to all her team for their hard work and endless patience, in particular Stephen Guise, Joseph Zigmond and Katherine Patrick; and to Peter James, for his sympathetic copy-editing.

  The research for this book has taken me to libraries, archives, record offices and private homes all over the country. The following institutions and archives generously gave me access to, and permission to quote from, their collections, and their staff were unfailingly helpful: the Bodleian Library; British Library; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Hertford Archives; National Records of Scotland; National Library of Scotland; and Somerset Record Office. Thanks also to the staff of the Cheshire Record Office and the West Sussex County Council Record Office for allowing me to read private collections on site, and to the staff of the London Library. For access to private collections, I am grateful to the Earl of Egremont; Hugo Vickers; the Whittingehame Estate; Francis Wyndham; and others. Lord Wemyss has been generous beyond measure in allowing me access to the Stanway archives, and granting me permission to reproduce images in the Stanway Collection. James and Olinda Adeane have been extraordinarily helpful and kind. The Bonham Carter Trustee and Christopher Osborn were kind enough to grant me permission to quote copyright work of Margot Asquith. Others to whom I am grateful are the Earl and Countess of Oxford and Asquith for showing me material relating to Raymond Asquith and Frances, Lady Horner; Lady Glenconner; Philip Hoare for answering last-minute, anxious requests; and Melissa Wyndham and Suzanne Lobel for their enthusiasm for the project.

  Certain people have helped this book immeasurably along its way. Philippa Brewster, Dan Jones and Hugo Vickers have all been the most sympathetic and helpful of ears in various times of crisis. Juggling writing with my other career as a barrister has been possible only thanks to the support of those at Essex Court Chambers, in particular my clerks David Grief and Jack Wood; and my erstwhile pupil supervisor Nathan Pillow. To all my friends: especially Will Gresford, who encouraged me to take on the project and whose connections set me on the way; Laura Hamm, my wingman in every coffee shop in New York; Lauren Aguilar, who lived with the book for two months across Sri Lanka; Ollie Marre, Joanna Buckley and Henry Day, my life-lines through law school; Lucy Davis; Maggie Asquith; Phoebe Barran; and Charlotte Evans, whose support has been unfailing since we were eighteen years old. To my godparents David and Angela Neuberger and Alex Gordon Shute; Jonny and Gabrielle Levy for their immediate, overwhelming support in the darkest of times. To all those who have lived with me and my boxes of books (in chronological order): Sarah O’Reilly, Sophie Elmhirst, Raya al Bader, Patrick Hennessey, Viva van Loock, Becca Ratcliffe and Nicky Sayers: thanks for listening to me bang on and I’m sorry about the mess. To Mark Lobel, who has now so gracefully taken on their mantle – thank you.

  To list my myriad, ever-expanding family requires a deep breath, so here goes: my father Simon Renton, stepmother Rachel Smith and sister Izzy Renton; my grandmother Lavinia Hankinson; my stepfather Derek J. Content; Judy Englender; my sister Philippa Content and her clan, Chris, Arlo and Nina Winterbourne; my South African family, Jonathan, Gail, Kate, Nicky and Matty Schrire; Toby Colegate-Stone, the most patient and tolerant of brothers-in-law; and Imi and Mabel, the next generation of (head)strong women. Thank you all beyond measure.

  Finally, I come to the hardest, and the easiest, thanks of all. To my brilliant, bold and beloved mother Amanda Content, who died in October 2009, as I was halfway through this book, and my sister Julia Colegate-Stone, who has helped me every step of the way before and since. I could not have begun to understand the ties that bound the Wyndham women together without my own experience to draw on. To my mother and my sister, this is for, and because of, you.

  Claudia Renton

  Lincoln’s Inn Fields

  December 2013

  About the Author

  Claudia Renton took a First at Oxford and was awarded the Gibbs Book Prize for Modern History. Now a practising barrister, she was previously an actress, appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the National theatre. She is co-author of Heroes with Simon Sebag Montefiore and was identified as one of the Guardian’s ‘new history girls’ and Vogue’s ‘Bright Stars’ of the next decade. She lives in London.

  Copyright

  William Collins

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  First published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2014

  Copyright © Claudia Renton 2014

  Claudia Renton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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  Cover: The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs Adeane, and Mrs Tennant, 1899 (oil on canvas) by John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) © Francis G. Mayer/Corbis

  Cover design by Anna Morrison

  Source ISBN: 9780007544899

  Ebook Edition © January 2014 ISBN: 9780007544905

  Version: 2014-01-02

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