Ok.. I'll add my tuppence worth..

 

The building was commissioned by the 1st Baron Taunton (later 'Lord' Taunton) Henry Labouchere (often erroneously referred to as "Henry du Pre Labouchere", which was in fact the title of his nephew, a renowned Liberal MP and later a Radical).

 

Henry Labouchere was descended from a merchant banking family, and agreed to marry a daughter (Frances) of the Baring family (of Baring's Bank fame - think 'Nick Leeson') as a means of achieving a business deal, namely a merger between the Hopes bank, for whom Henry Labouchere was a board member, and of course Barings Bank.

 

It's safe to say that Henry was extremely rich..

 

In 1844 Frances gave birth to a daughter, Emily Harriet. In 1844 Henry purchased a stately home (Stoke Park, near Stoke Poges, Bucks - it's now a hotel and golf club, what else...) from Granville John Penn, a descendant of the Penn family - ie, William Penn, Prime Minister and the 'Pennsylvania' lot.. Just for info, despite what the history books might tell you, the Penn family fortune was based on piracy, invasion, slavery, plunder and theft. (These days, even the people in their home town of Bristol would consider them a bunch of nasty gits). So here Henry Labouchere lived with his wife Frances. In 1850, Frances died (not sure what of).

 

Two years later in 1852, Henry re-married; to Mary Matilda Georgiana Howard. The Howards were an immensely influential family - with an impeccable pedigree - definitely nobility, and related to Royalty (Mary Matilda Georgiana could trace her roots to a common ancestor of Catherine Howard, wife of Henry VIII, whom, as we all know, was beheaded by the murdering bastard after only two years of marriage).

 

At some point soon after, they had two daughters, Mary Dorothy and Mina Frances.

Henry and Mary frequently entertained guests and visitors at Stoke Park, counting novelists, poets and artists among their guests. They were no strangers to The Court of Queen Victoria either, being regularly called upon to make the short distance to Windsor to attend dinner parties and social functions, and soon the title of 'Baron Taunton' become one of 'Lord Taunton'.

 

Both Henry and Mary were avid patrons of the arts and soon amassed a sizeable collection, particularly contemporary paintings and sculptures. Perhaps with the notion to be near Taunton as a result of his peerage, and almost certainly with an interest in acquiring a home for his and Mary's art collection, Lord Taunton commissioned the construction of a new building in the Quantocks - which we all know as 'Quantock School' or, more properly, 'Quantock Lodge'. Completed in 1857, Quantock Lodge became home to Lord Taunton, and his art collection. The cemetery at Over Stowey has gravestones suggesting that he even brought some of his servants from Stoke Park).

 

Emily Harriet, the eldest daughter, married the Earl of St Germans (Cornwall), Henry Eliot, and went to live in St Germans, at Port Eliot house. By the time of Henry's death in 1869, he had no male heirs to his estate or fortune, and when his wife Mary died in 1892, the estate passed to the next eldest, Mary Dorothy, who had married Edward James Stanley - an army officer and also a member of a noble family. From this point on, the family fortune seemed to be gradually dwindling, perhaps an army officer's pay at the time was struggling to meet the expenses of maintaining a house and staff such as Quantock Lodge? They had three children, Evelyn Mary (who also married an army officer), Henry Thomas, who was killed at the battle of Hekpoort, South Africa during the Boer War (there is a memorial to Henry Thomas in Over Stowey churchyard, although his actual grave remains in South Africa). The next eldest, Edward Arthur Vesey Stanley, is a bit of enigma to me. He married twice. His first wife died only as recently as 1972, so it must have been a divorce. He re-married in 1936.

 

Edward Arthur Vesey (or just E V) became the Master of the Quantock Hunt for a time, until he could no longer afford it and passed the job on to someone else.

For whatever reason, the fortune inherited from his grandfather via his mother Mary Dorothy was presumably either totally depleted or about to be so, for items from the extensive art collection were beginning to be sold by E V with increasing frequency. In 1920 the estate, and the collection of art it contained, was completely and finally sold, and left the ownership of what remained of the Labouchere family for the last time.

 

The building became a santorium (tuberculosis hospital - not to be confused with 'sanitarium' - a mental hospital, as some pupils in my day thought), and in the 1960's became a public school. But we all know that don't we.

Personally, I find all this rather fascinating, which is why I started looking into it all, but then I'm an anorak..

 

Cheers

 

Bri

But a particularly learned one........

Nick.

Arse - why do you never spot mistakes until you publish something..

 

"..In 1844 Henry purchased a stately home.." should read "..In 1848 Henry purchased a stately home.."

 

Bri

Bri,

 

I think that probably ranks as the most studied and even intelligent sounding submission to date. How long did that lot take to dig out - all done on the net  - or even using books and stuff?

 

Jools, even for you that must rank as gibberish - good work, keep it up. After all, all threads need balance, and after Bri submission we needed it in heapings ...

 

Mike

 

PS Anorak - is that a polite version for the word "nurd"?