Heckfield Place

Sir Charles Shaw Lefevre

Helena Shaw Lefevre later Lady St. John Mildmay on her wedding day in 1851.

John Lefevre (1722-1790), a wealthy landowner, who built the core of the present structure in 1786 intended the house to be a residence for his only child Helena Lefevre (1757-1834). It was an addition to an older building which subsequently became the servant's quarters.[6] Helena married in 1789 Charles Shaw who took the name Lefevre to become Charles Shaw Lefevre (1759-1823). When her father died in 1790 Helena inherited not only Heckfield Place but also an ample fortune. According to one historian "combining Helena’s wealth and Charles’s enterprise launched the Shaw Lefreves confidently into the society of rural gentry – that independently minded segment of the small ruling elite."[7]

The couple had three sons the eldest being also called Charles Shaw Lefrevre who was later to become Lord Eversley. Both father and son over the next sixty years made major additions to both the house and surrounding land holdings so that by 1850 there was a consolidated estate of over 4000 acres. Wilson described the new additions to the house in the following terms.

"By the middle of the 1850s the original house had been extended to provide more accommodation for guests and servants and much money had been spent on more elaborate decoration. The new reception rooms were equipped with marble chimney pieces from France and the new drawing room with a fine plaster-work ceiling. The brickwork was decorated with quoin stones, window dressings and balustrades. A terrace was laid out on the North East side enclosed by a pretty stone balustrade and furnished with elegant stone flower baskets probably of Italian make and design. The result of all of this development was - and is - a pleasant strong and beautifully sited mansion."[8]

Terrace Garden 1900

The elegant stone flower baskets and other parts of the garden were a feature in many gardening journals of that time. In 1884 “Cassell’s Popular Gardening” included an engraving of one of the baskets which can be seen at this reference.[9] A similar engraving was in a book of 1893 called the “English Flower Garden”.[10] In 1900 “the Century Book of Gardening” contained a photo of the terrace garden with the baskets[11] which is shown.

Sir Charles Shaw Lefevre (1794-1888) (Lord Eversley) was a barrister and a prominent Member of Parliament. He held the office of Speaker of the House of Commons between 1839 and 1857.[12] He was educated at the University of Cambridge and in 1817 married Emma Laura Whitbread, daughter of Samuel Whitbread of Southill Park Bedfordshire and the niece of the 2nd Earl Grey.[13] The couple had three sons and three daughters. His younger daughters Helena and Elizabeth both married into the neighbouring family of St. John Mildmay of Dogmersfield. Helena married Sir Henry St. John-Mildmay, 5th Baronet on 6 February 1851. An etching of her on her wedding day is shown.

The eldest daughter Emma Laura Shaw Lefevre (1820-1899) did not marry and in 1888 when Sir Charles died she inherited the house. She continued her father's work in the garden. A photo of her is shown at Heckfield Place. The house was sold in 1895 to Colonel Horace Walpole. A very detailed description of the then 2400 estate is given at this reference.[14]

Colonel Horace Walpole (1849-1919) had very distinguished parentage but as he was born out of wedlock he did not inherit the entailed estates of the Walpole family. His father was Sir Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford and his mother was Lady Susan Hamilton. This liaison caused quite a scandal in 1849 when Horace was born in Verona. However, in time the Walpole family appeared to accept him as their kinsman. Lady Dorothy Nevill who was Sir Horatio's sister stayed with Horace at Heckfield Place on numerous occasions and regarded him as her nephew.[15] When Sir Horatio died in 1895 although he couldn't leave him his entailed estate he left him his personal estate which was still a considerable fortune. This enabled Horace to buy Heckfield Place.

In 1887 Colonel Horace Walpole married Pauline Mary Langdale (1858-1944) who was the daughter of Charles Joseph Langdale of Houghton Hall near Market Weighton. The couple had two daughters. When Horace died in 1919 he left the house to his eldest daughter Dorothy Mary Paula Walpole (1895-1977) who in the same year married Major Austin Edward Scott Murray.[16] He died in 1943 and two years later she married Colonel Colin Kayser Davy (1896-1971). She lived at Heckfield Place until her death in 1977 after which it was sold.

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