Z1205/258

Male. The Duke of Bedford. Landowner. Leisure business manager. b. 30.03.1926 Side A (00 mins)Born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, where his father was a married student at Harvard University. Moved to England when he was 3 or 4 months old. Father grew up in South Africa where his father had moved to because he didn't get on with his father. Father moved back to England when he was 13. Attended school here then in Switzerland. Because many of his friends went on to university in the USA, he did. All his sons followed in his footsteps and attended university there. As a child, interviewee lived with parents in London and also had a house in Newmarket, Suffolk, to be close to the racehorse industry. Parents moved to Woburn when he was 12 and his brother was 11. Third was brother born while they were there. Previously had only visited Woburn Abbey occasionally to visit his grandfather. His father and grandfather did not have a good relationship. There were only 20+ years between each generation. (05 mins)His grandfather died, his father was 62. His parents moved out 14 months before the interview and his father died 7 months before. He had had a stroke in 1988, aged 48, and had only just survived it. After his stroke he relaxed and enjoyed life more than he had previously, when people found him to be intimidating. He had led a very busy life, doing jobs away from Woburn as well as the estate. He had high standards and was very demanding of everyone he dealt with. As young teenagers the interviewee and his brother regarded the house and park as a giant playground. (10 mins)The children saw less of their parents when living at Woburn Abbey, because their parents had more to do there than previously. Recently, the interviewee and his wife had been living in a small cottage and found the move to actually living in Woburn Abbey difficult. Can spend entire mornings using the telephone. Numerous meetings. Feels like the captain of a large liner. Organising special events can be daunting but exciting - pop concerts in the grounds, Golf Club tournaments, RAC motor rallies, et cetera. Plenty of variety: house, antique centre, golf club, hotel and other aspects of estate management. Recent foot and mouth disease outbreak among livestock in England caused the Park to be closed for 13 weeks to avoid the spread to the deer and led to major loss of income. (15 mins)One on the tenant farmers had all his sheep destroyed because they had visited Northampton Market when cattle had passed through which subsequently contracted the disease. These sheep were within a kilometre of the Woburn Park. Bedfordshire County Council closed the minor road which runs through the park and everyone entering were stopped and asked to dip their footwear in disinfectant. Staff were not laid off but used the opportunity for "spring cleaning"Large parts of the Woburn Estate had been sold off earlier in the Twentieth Century when his great-great grandfather and then his great grandfather had died one after the other. This led to double death duties being exacted and the trustees decided, rather than taking on large loans, to sell off land holdings and other assets. Running the estate is only possible with dedicated teams of people. His father objected to the extension of the brick works at Stewartby, at a time of arguments about the possible harmful effects of pollution from the chimneys on local farms. (20 mins)Remembers when there was still a brick factory near to Junction 13 of the M1 motorway, where there is now the warehouses of the Prologis Business Park distribution centre. He remembers the distinctive smell of sulphur fumes which people associated with the area during brick production. Before his grandfather left Woburn Abbey, his father managed the estate, while grandfather ran the house, the safari park and the park but did not get on with the trustees. As a teenage the interviewee realised that one day he might run the estate but assumed it would not be until he was in his sixties because his father was only 22 years older. As a result he went off and worked for Tattersalls in Newmarket, Europe's leading blood stock auctioneers. (25 mins)He has had to change his surname and title twice, on the death of his grandfather and father. He hopes to be a good "keeper" of Woburn, as his predecessors have. The state employs 350 full-time workers, rising to 700 in the summer, during the visitor season. Each of his managers feel a proprietor of their particular concern - the deer, the golf club, the greens and so on. Paternalism may be out of fashion but he feels it doesn't mean it is wrong. (30 mins)He feels a great responsibility for Woburn and its people. Feels that we are nowadays governed by endless bureaucracy instead of common sense. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Reflections on changes over his lifetime. The speed of life - use of computers, emails. People losing the art of face-to-face communication. More emphasis on work as opposed to leisure. Congestion of roads with increased traffic. Changes in family life. Father and son had communication problems in the past. The likely future for hereditary peers. His attitude to titles. (05 mins)He answers to Andrew Bedford, Tavistock or Howland. What matters is keeping Woburn (Estate) together for the Russell family and all who live or work in the area. Feels he is only the latest one who has been handed the baton to keep Woburn surviving. He has positive attitude about attracting people to their various businesses by "re-inventing the wheel". Feels very lucky but there are days when he wishes when another brother was in charge! (10 mins)With increasing housing encroaching on mid-Bedfordshire, Woburn is a green oasis. Threats to Woburn from traffic. (15 mins)The need to keep hold of green areas, like Woburn and the newly-emerging Forest of Marston Vale. (17 mins)End of Side B END OF INTERVIEW Original Interview 50 mins.

28 January 2004

From: 1920 To: 2004

item

Bedfordshire County Council,
Tattersalls

University, racing, playing fields, concerts, golf, Harvard University, antiques, hotels, estate management, cattle disease, deer parks, shepherd, administration road transport, cleaners, brick worker, pollution, computers, Leisure, TRANSPORT, planners, Boston [Massachusetts], Africa, Switzerland, Suffolk, WOBURN, Woburn Abbey, Northampton, Woburn Park, STEWARTBY