[lit-ideas] The Duke's Box
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 07:10:16 EST
In a message dated 3/3/2009 6:30:03 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
sedward@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>but does know an awful lot about the Dark
>Age history of what became Sussex.
That is great to know. I do know a man from Oxfordshire (originally from
Nottinghamshire), G. P. Stevenson. And he wrote a history of Oxfordshire which
may relate to your history of Sussex. This was published by a history society
specialising in the history of counties. Stevenson's book is a rather dreary
list of historical events _in_ Oxfordshire. He was in Buenos Aires once for a
Shropshire-Lad musical event I organised, and we had fun.
---
What do I know about what became Sussex?
Not much -- to me, Sussex means Argentina, i.e. Hudson! He is highly
criticised in Argentina for
(i) having left the pampas
(ii) marry for the money -- to a Cockney landlady.
He eventually moved to Sussex. Borges hated him, "He would rather socialise
with birds than human beings", he'd say. But Borges was also slightly socially
pathological, so what's the problem.
Hudson _is_ buried in Sussex, but his landmark is the horrible B. Epstein
(pronounced "Epsteen", as Vanessa Redgrave has it in "Prick up your ears") in
Hyde Park.
What else? Well, when Borges was in Sussex for his literary tour sponsored
by the British Council, he made it to Rye, of James, and -- Benson -- fame. I
don't think the locals noticed. Why would they.
To me, Sussex is Vita. Her Sissinghurst _is_ the way to keep a garden.
----
What happened in what S. Ward calls the 'dark ages' of what was to become
Sussex?
We should start with Baeda Venerabilis. He (Loeb Library) states it clearly:
Sussex is the land of the South Saxons. I fear the South Saxons were never
so clear as to who they were. It seems Baeda knew more about them than the
South Saxons themselves. I never met one. Apparently, they have ruddy
complexions, and roll their 'r's.
Sussex was murdered in 1974. The murder was not as terrible of what became
of other counties, but what Whitehall did for Sussex was unforgivable. East and
West, my bollocks.
Sussex always meant good living in England. Glyndebourne is in Sussex!
-----
Anyway, this note is to pay a little tribute not to Sussex but to S. Ward's
native shire ("Ask an Englishman where he comes from and he'll tell you the
name of his county", the editor of London Illustrated writes in "The Counties
of England"): Bedfordshire.
The definitions of who owned what are mainly due to Henry VIII -- and the
Catholic Church (Geary knows about this). The Monks kept a garden in the
convent. This became part of the land of the Earl of Bedford. I read in wiki:
"In 1540, good ol 'Enery the 8th solved a lot of problems when he dissolved
the monasteries and appropriated their land."
"Good ole 'Enery granted part of the land to Baron Russell, Lord High
Admiral and, later, Earl of Bedford."
"In fulfilment of his father's dying wish, King Edward VI bestowed the
remainder of the convent garden in 1547 to his maternal uncle, Edward Seymour.
When Seymour was beheaded in 1552, the land once again came into royal gift,
and
was awarded four months later to one of those who had contributed to
Seymour's beheading. 16 ha known as "le Covent Garden" plus "the long acre",
were
granted by royal patent in perpetuity to the Earl of Bedford."
"The modern-day Covent Garden has its roots in the early 17th century when
land ("the Convent's Garden") was redeveloped by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of
Bedford."
"The area was designed by Inigo Jones, the first and greatest of English
Renaissance architects."
"In 1913, responding to political feeling against large holdings of real
property, and wishing to diversify his investment portfolio into less
politically sensitive fields, the Duke of Bedford agreed to sell the Covent
Garden
Estate to the MP and land speculator Harry Mallaby-Deeley for £2 million."
Line of Provenance: "The following year Mallaby-Deeley sold his option to
buy to the pill manufacturer Sir Joseph Beecham for £250,000. After delays
caused by the First World War and the death of Sir Joseph, the sale was
finalised
in 1918, the purchasers being Sir Joseph's two sons, Sir Thomas and Henry.
The transaction included the market, 231 other properties, and sundry other
rights. The property was part of Beecham Estates and Pills Limited from 1924
to
1928 and from 1928 it was owned by a successor company called Covent Garden
Properties Company Limited, owned by the Beechams and other private
investors."
Again from wiki:
"The Russell family currently holds the titles of Earl and Duke of Bedford."
(Geary will expand on the meaning, 'earl and duke').
"John Russell was granted the title of Earl of Bedford in 1551, and his
descendant William, 5th Earl, was created Duke."
The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Bedford, all in the Peerage of England,
are:
* Marquess of Tavistock (created 1694)
* Earl of Bedford (1550)
* Viscount Petersborough (1526)
* Baron Russell, of Cheneys (1539)
* Baron Russell of Thornhaugh in the County of Northampton (1603), and
* Baron Howland of Streatham in the County of Surrey (1695) (and possibly
* the Barony of Bedford, which was merged into it in 1138, 1366 or 1414).
The courtesy title of the Duke of Bedford's eldest son and heir is Marquess
of Tavistock.
The family seat is Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire.
[see "The Tatler", last month]
Earls of Bedford:
1st Earl of Bedford: John
2nd Earl of Bedford: John
3rd Earl of Bedford: Edward.
4th Earl of Bedford: Francis
5th Earl of Bedford (became Duke of Bedford): William
Dukes of Bedford
1st Duke of Bedford: William
2nd Duke of Bedford (1680–1711): "Wriothelsey Russell"
Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford (1708–1732)
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710–1771)
Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (1765–1802)
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (1766–1839)
Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford (1788–1861)
William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford (1809–1872)
Francis Charles Hastings Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford (1819–1891)
George William Francis Sackville Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford (1852–1893)
Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford (1858–1940)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++ connection with Covent Garden lost, but they kept
a box.
Hastings William Sackville Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford (1888–1953)
John Robert Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford (1917–2002)
14th Duke of Bedford (1940–2003): Henry Robin Ian Russell
15th Duke of Bedford (b. 1962): Andrew Ian Henry Russell (b. 1962)
The Heir Apparent is Henry Robin Charles Russell, Marquess of Tavistock (b.
7 June 2005)
So now you know -- both opera musts in England have connections with S. Ward
and me.
As for Dartmoor, I'm glad S. Ward chairs the cricket club and drinks bear.
There must be an opera house nearby, too.
Cheers,
J. L. Speranza (Mr.)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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