‘The Hatley brocade curtains, at last bleached to her desired faded blue, were hung,’ Diana recalled: ‘The lace drawer, the feather drawer, the one for ribbons and the one for furs found their places, as did the immovable chest for stuffs and dress-lengths and patterns, a yard square, taken on trial from furnishers and never returned. Shelves were filled with Tauchnitz books bought on journeys in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, bound extravagantly enough in half-vellum and marbled paper … There was nothing ordinary in her house, not even the meals, which would have been unusual had they existed. She disapproved of spending money on food, and still more upon drink, so it was abandon hope the greedy and the alcoholics. She herself nibbled Marie biscuits and sipped Ovaltine, living comfortably and healthily upon nothing.’
It was in this house that Violet died, aged eighty, on 22 December 1937. In the last week of her life, after an operation for appendicitis failed, she lay delirious, singing, as Diana recalled, ‘snatches of old songs like Ophelia, and describing in some new-given idiom, the things strange and beautiful that passed before her half-blind eyes’.
John and Diana were with her at the end. And yet there is a macabre twist to Violet’s passing.
Within hours of her death, John released a statement to the press. It was published in The Times the next morning:
The condition of Violet, Duchess of Rutland, was stated last night to show a very slight change for the better.
For five days, John went on issuing bulletins to The Times and other papers, saying his mother’s health was improving, when actually she lay dead at Chapel Street. ‘I stayed with her,’ Diana recalled, ‘through this macabre holiday, warding off the inquisitive press, lying to anxious enquirers, trying to calm and silence the faithful maid and the rest of her people.’
John had not wanted his mother’s death to interfere with the family Christmas at Belvoir – a gathering of more than twenty friends and relations. It was only on 28 December, six days after Violet died, that he finally allowed the announcement to be made. It appeared in the Court Circular pages of The Times:
We have to announce that Violet, Duchess of Rutland, died yesterday morning. The funeral will take place at Belvoir on Thursday.
Violet was buried in the mausoleum alongside Haddon and Henry.
Two months after her death, John donated his brother’s tomb, which his mother had spent half her life sculpting, to the Tate Gallery.
It was only after his death in 1940 that a copy of the original was placed in the chapel at Haddon Hall – a wish that Violet had expressed from the beginning, and which John had denied.
Illustrations
1. Belvoir Castle, looking east towards Woolsthorpe, c.1935.
2. The Guard Room at the castle. The door leading to the former servants’ quarters is to the left of the fireplace.
3. John, 9th Duke of Rutland, with his wife, Kathleen, and Roger, his youngest son, at King George VI’s coronation in May 1937.
4. Room 1, where John died in April 1940. The sofa on which he died is at the centre of the picture.
5. The Elizabeth Saloon, one of the many state rooms at the castle.
6. The Guard Room, March 1940. Boxes containing documents from the Public Record Office are stacked to the left of the arch.
7. The Muniment Rooms (at the base of the Round Tower), as seen from the gun-carriage terrace. The two drainpipes that Hilda Lezard scaled to break into the castle are to the left of the tower.
8. Violet Lindsay and Henry, Marquis of Granby (later 8th Duke and Duchess of Rutland), on their engagement in 1882.
9. Violet and Haddon.
10. Haddon, aged three, at Cockayne Hall, the family’s home in Hatley Cockayne, Bedfordshire, in 1889.
11. John, aged four, at Belvoir.
12. Haddon.
13. John.
14. Haddon, aged nine. The photograph was taken shortly before his death.
15. Haddon’s tomb. Violet’s inscription reads:
Hope of my eyes Something is broken that we cannot mend
With Grief, Remembrance, Pride and Love, I decorate his memory
Dear, dear little boy, You gave us all Perpetual Benediction
Entirely designed and modelled by his Mother
16. Violet on the terrace at Belvoir in 1895, the year after Haddon died.
17 and 18. John, photographed by Charlie Lindsay, shortly after Haddon’s death.
19. John, aged thirteen, at Stanton Woodhouse, the family’s home in Derbyshire.
20. A portrait of John by Sir James Shannon, painted in 1908, a few months before he was appointed Honorary Attaché at the British Embassy in Rome.
21. The seafront at Messina after the earthquake on 28 December 1908.
22. Violet, Duchess of Rutland, by Sir James Shannon, c.1890.
23. Henry, Duke of Rutland, and Charlie Lindsay, c.1920.
24. Violet, Duchess of Rutland, c.1915.
25. John (first on the left) in the summer of 1909.
26. The War Office in the autumn of 1914 – the scene of Violet’s meeting with General Sir Edward Bethune. The police have cleared a passage through the crowds of men waiting to volunteer to make way for the car at the entrance to the building.
27. General Sir Edward Bethune.
28. Lord Kitchener of Khartoum.
29. John in the courtyard at Arlington Street before leaving for the Front in February 1915.
30. George Gordon Moore.
31. Lady Diana Manners, c.1915.
32. Field Marshal Sir John French (right) picnics with his ADC, Lt.-Col. Fitzgerald Watt, on the Western Front in June 1915.
33. Field Marshal Sir John French in his dress uniform.
34. Walking wounded at Vermelles, during the later stages of the Battle of Loos.
35. OFFICERS OF THE 4TH LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT AT LUTON, OCTOBER 1914
Back row: 2/Lt. G.E.F. Russell*, 2/Lt. J.F. Johnson*, 2/Lt. W.N. Dunn, Lt. G.A. Brogden, 2/Lt. F.M. Waite.
Next row: 2/Lt. M.B. Douglas, 2/Lt. H.F. Papprill, Lt. J.G. Abell, Lt. F.N.Tarr*, Lt. W.B. Jarvis, Lt. G.J. Harvey, Lt. A. Silver, 2/Lt. H.C. Brice*, Lt. F.S. Parr, Lt. A.E. Ball.
Next row: Capt. R.A. Faire*, Capt. B.F. Newill, Capt. A.C. Cooper*, Maj. L.V. Wykes, Lt.-Col. W.A. Harrison, Capt. R.S. Dyer-Bennet, Capt. T.P. Fielding-Johnson, Capt. J.C. Baines, Capt. H. Haylock*.
Front row: Lt. T. Whittingham*, 2/Lt. A.C. Clarke*, 2/Lt. R.C. Harvey*, 2/Lt. L. Forsell*.
* Killed in action, 1915. Of the other officers, all were wounded on 13 October 1915, the day the North Midland Division incurred 3,700 casualties.
36. Goldfish Château, where John had tea with General Pulteney on 5 July 1915, the day his war diary stopped.
37. Gassed soldiers at Casualty Clearing Station No. 8, Bailleul, which John visited on 2 May 1915.
38. General Edward Stuart Wortley.
39. Rothesay Stuart Wortley.
40. Marjorie, Marchioness of Anglesey, and her daughter Caroline, Belvoir Castle, 1915.
41. John and Kakoo’s wedding at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, on 27 January 1916.
A family celebration at Belvoir Castle, June 1918.
42. Henry, Duke of Rutland, is toasted by his family after receiving the Order of the Garter from King George V. He was awarded the Order for his work in raising recruits for the war. Diana is seated on the left. Opposite her, on Henry’s left, is Marjorie, Marchioness of Anglesey, and, next to her, Kakoo, Marchioness of Granby.
43. John and Kakoo.
44. Henry and his daughter Diana.
45. Kakoo and Charlie Lindsay, 1918.
46. John at the christening of John, his second – and favourite – son, Haddon Hall, 1922.
47. Haddon Hall.
48. Haddon Hall by Rex Whistler. John commissioned the painting in the early 1930s. He and Charles, his eldest son, are the two figures in the foreground. The withered tree suggests that Whistler sensed – or was aware of – the tragedy in the family’s recent past.
/> 49. John’s sons at King George VI’s coronation, May 1937. Left to right: Charles, Lord Granby, Page to the Duke of Gloucester; Lord John Manners, Page to Lord Ancaster; Lord Roger Manners, Page to his father.
50. John poses with the local cricket team and his bulldog Belvoir, a descendant of Toto, 1937.
51. The funeral of Violet, Duchess of Rutland, Belvoir Castle, January 1938. John leads the procession, followed by his three sons.
52. The cortège arrives at the mausoleum in the grounds of the castle.
53. David, the present and 11th Duke of Rutland.
54. Emma, Duchess of Rutland.
Appendix
Fig 1. Belvoir Castle, Ground Floor
Fig 2. Belvoir Castle, First Floor
Fig 3. Belvoir Castle, Second Floor
Notes
General Note
All letters/diaries are late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century papers from the Muniment Rooms at Belvoir Castle unless otherwise stated. The archives have not been catalogued, therefore it is not possible to provide citations for the individual documents.
Abbreviations
MR Muniment Rooms
WO War Office
PRO Public Record Office
Part I
Chapters 1–6: General Note
The descriptions of Belvoir Castle in 1940, the manner of doing things, and the rumours, events and anecdotes referred to in these chapters have been drawn from conversations with servants working there at the time (or their relations) and members of the Manners family.
They are:
The Marquis of Anglesey, nephew of John, 9th Duke of Rutland
Gladys Brittain, the wife of Ted Brittain, the butler in 1940
Lady Ursula D’Abo, eldest daughter of John, 9th Duke of Rutland
Clarence Harper, footman
Helen King, tenant of the Duke of Rutland
Lord Roger Manners, youngest son of John, 9th Duke of Rutland
Viscount Norwich, nephew of John, 9th Duke of Rutland
Sheila Osborne, former pantry maid
Tonia Pacey, the daughter of Ted Brittain
Dorothy Plowright, the daughter of Bill Hotchin, the boiler stoker
Emma, Duchess of Rutland
George Waudby, footman
Chapter 2
Belvoir Castle had been …: National Archives, PRO 18 and PRO 18/1
At Chancery Lane …: ibid.
The oldest and most important …: ibid.
Ten days earlier …: ibid.
Appointed Physician-extraordinary …: Francis Watson, Dawson of Penn, Chatto & Windus 1950
Chapter 4
Horse Key, Pringle …: Belvoir Estate Records, MR
These women thus being …: Michael Honeybone, Wicked Practise & Sorcerye, Devon 2008
Chapter 6
First a pane of glass was smashed …: National Archives, PRO 18/1
‘I thought I ought to let you know …’: ibid.
Chapter 7
In 1914, the Duke of Rutland’s estate …: Belvoir Estate Maps, MR
The testimony of farm worker Leonard Thompson …:’ Ronald Blythe, Akenfield, Penguin 1999, pp. 31–44
‘We were all delighted when war broke out …’: ibid., p. 38
We arrived at the Dardanelles …: ibid.
Of the men who left …: Information gathered from the village war memorials
A few weeks after war was declared …: Grantham Journal, 29 August 1914
‘No man in the prime of life …’: A. J. P. Taylor, The First World War, Penguin 1974, p. 22
In an age when the word ‘nobility’ …: Brian Masters, The Dukes, Blond Briggs 1977, p. 9
In 1914, there were thirty of them …: Includes the Royal Dukes: Albany, Connaught, Cumberland and Teviotdale, and Rothesay
Within living memory …: ibid., pp. 9–10
So opulent was their lifestyle at Belvoir …: Philip Ziegler, Diana Cooper, Hamish Hamilton 1981, p. 10
‘It was not just that millions died …’: Mary, Countess of Wemyss, A Family Record, The Curwen Press 1932, p. 235
Chapter 9
Even so, in the sixteen weeks since the division …: General Edward Stuart Wortley to Lord Stamfordham, Private Secretary to King George V, June 1915, Royal Archives, Windsor
On a warm summer’s evening …: John Milne, Footprints of the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment, Naval and Military Press 2006, p. 31
‘It was a pleasant bivouac …’: ibid.
‘Everybody knew what a visit there …’: ibid., p. 30
‘What a track it was …’: ibid., p. 32
At 8 p.m., General Clifford, the Commanding Officer …: 138th Brigade War Diary, National Archives, Kew
‘The Companies marched back independently …’: Milne, Footprints of the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment, p. 34
In the autumn of 1915, at the Battle of Loos …: Nick Lloyd, Loos, 1915, Tempus 2006
Twenty of John’s fellow officers …: Milne, Footprints of the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment 2006, p. 55
‘A significant proportion of the regiment’s casualties …’: Grantham Journal, October–November 1915
Chapter 10
Sigmund Freud had also suggested …: ‘Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work 1: “The Exceptions” ’, in Freud, S. E. (1957)
Chapter 12
In the months that followed …: Wikipedia: 1908 Messina earthquake
Some weeks earlier, Herbert Asquith …: The Times, 12 January 1909
The King had concealed them …: Christopher Hibbert, Charles I, A Life of Religion, War and Treason, Macmillan 1968
Chapter 13
Among the documents …: National Archives, HS 9/921/5
I was dropped …: ibid.
Chapter 14
The sources in this chapter are drawn from files held at the National Archives, PRO 18 and PRO 18/1.
Chapter 16
The break with his mother …: In her letter to Charlie, Violet misremembered John’s age. He was eight years old at the time.
Chapters 17 and 18
The newspaper sources from which the events of these chapters are drawn are:
Bedfordshire Mercury, Sept./Oct. 1894
Bedfordshire Standard, Sept./Oct. 1894
Bedfordshire Times and Independent, Sept./Oct. 1894
Biggleswade Chronicle and Sandy Times, Sept./Oct. 1894
Grantham Journal, Sept./Oct. 1894
Grantham Times, Sept./Oct. 1894
Leicester Chronicle, Sept./Oct. 1894
Leicester Daily Express, Sept./Oct. 1894
Leicester Journal, Sept./Oct. 1894
Melton Mowbray Times, Sept./Oct. 1894
Chapter 19
The family had employed 110 servants then …: Belvoir Castle Household Accounts, 1894
Chapter 20
Both Henry and Violet had close links to the Queen …: Burke’s Peerage, 107th edition
Chapter 23
Mary, Countess of Minto …: Mary, Countess of Minto, 1858–1940, married Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, July 1883
Mary, Countess of Wemyss …: Mary, Countess of Wemyss, 1862–1937, married Francis Richard Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss, August 1883
Chapter 26
Famous only for his handsome looks …: Philip Ziegler, Diana Cooper, Hamish Hamilton 1981
Born in 1852 …: Burke’s Peerage, 107th edition
As a matter of course, whenever he entered …: Leicester Journal and Midland Counties General Advertiser, 23 July 1852
At Leicester, a few weeks after Henry was born …: Leicester Chronicle, 24 April 1852
A beautiful set piece …: ibid.
The picture she paints of him …: Lady Diana Cooper, The Rainbow Comes and Goes, Rupert Hart-Davis 1958
‘Ruin stared us in the face …’: ibid., p. 21
Though he ‘worried and fretted’ …: ibid., pp. 20–21
‘Sadness fell from the air …’: Diana Cooper
, Autobiography, Faber and Faber 2008, p. 282
Chapter 27
Household Accounts …: All price comparison figures throughout the book are calculated using Economic History Services (http://eh.net/hmit)
There was never an hour …: Lady Diana Cooper, The Rainbow Comes and Goes, Rupert Hart-Davis 1958
‘The watermen are difficult to believe in today …’: ibid., pp. 35–6
Joining the watermen …: ibid.
Throughout the night …: ibid., pp. 36–7
Then there was Betsy …: ibid.
Diana’s favourite was the Duke’s tailor …: ibid., p. 35
The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery Page 42