Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    RH
  • Title
    Russell (Holland) of Ampthill
  • Admin/biog history
    On the death of Lord Ossory in 1818 the Ampthill estate passed to Henry Richard Lord Holland, son of Lord Ossory’s sister Mary who has married Stephen Fox, Baron Holland. Henry Richard had married in 1797 Elizabeth Vassall, divorced wife of Sir Godfrey Webster and the couple became famed for their entertaining at Holland House. On inheriting the Ampthill estate Lord Holland’s feeling were mixed. As he had been brought up by his uncle he was delighted to become the owner of his childhood home but he also felt keenly his uncle’s loss: “All these considerations, make it a subject of congratulation from my friends; but it is impossible at first not to feel the loss of the person to whom I owe it, and who certainly was in conduct to me during my long minority, and in affection and advice afterwards, a more judicious, useful and tender father than most people have the advantage of having” In fact the estate was not such a great acquisition as might at first have been thought and Lord Holland wrote to Charles Fox: “ The property is not so great an accession to my fortune as to my future comfort and pleasure: the estate with encumbrances not being more than is necessary to keep up the house and gardens” After a few years it became apparent that the estate was almost a liability. The family was in some financial embarrassment, particularly in 1821-22, as Lady Holland’s property in Jamaica failed to produce an income and it did not appear that the situation would improve. It was often impossible to keep Ampthill open and towards the end of 1822 the family even considered shutting up Holland House. Five years later the family was again complaining of poverty; the property in the West Indies was now not even self-supporting and allowances had to be made for the sons Henry and Charles. It was hoped that Ampthill could be let for £1,000 p.a. or even less but no tenant was forthcoming. A sizeable addition was made to the estate in 1820 with the purchase from the Crown for £14,561 of part of the Honour of Ampthill which Lord Ossory had formerly leased. Much of the existing estate was already mortgaged; the Houghton Park estate had been mortgaged for £10,000 since its purchase for £22,635 in 1804 and from early in 1820 much of the rest of Lord Ossory’s estate was mortgaged for £12,000 possibly to raise funds for the acquisition of the Crown estate which was itself, within a few months of the purchase, standing security for £6,000. This purchase from the Crown really marked the end of substantial additions to the estate. A couple of fairly small purchases in Millbrook were made in 1825 and 1826 while two small purchases were made in Ampthill in 1826 and 1827 to facilitate the construction of the Alameda. Lord Holland was much attached to the Ampthill estate: “Papa, like a schoolboy for holidays, looks forward to Ampthill on Monday” wrote his wife in April 1832 but she herself did not really enjoy country life which was doubtless a contributory factor to Ampthill’s increasing neglect. In the autumn of 1824 Holland had been eager to go there and dispatched food and servants but all had shortly to be returned to London as Lady Holland said she was ill. In the summer she found rural life intolerable: “We came on Thursday, found this pretty place in great beauty; the tender greens of the foliage, the blossoms and the gay population of birds, squirrels, game etc. render it cheerful” (May 1823) and it could be even really pleasant so long as the weather was good: “When the weather was fine, so as to enable me to be out many hours to enjoy the views, shade and air, it was delightful, and the inspecting improvements, and the real use one is to the poor is a pleasure. The reverse of the medal is now in full force, heavy rain, cold raw east wind, diminished party”. (September 1826) It was occasionally useful to have a country residence; from time to time it was used for shooting parties – Lord Holland had developed a taste for this after acquiring the estate and his son, Henry Edward Fox, recalls such a party there in 1818: “On the 19th December the Duke of York and a large party came over to a dejeuner a la fourcheete, and to shoot in the laurels and the woods; they shot 266 head of game.” The family spent August there in 1827 while minor alterations were made to Holland House and in 1830 it was loaned to Mary Fox and Lord Lilford for their honeymoon. In the spring of 1837 Lord Holland made a new will, the terms of which were displeasing to his son Henry. Lady Holland was to have Holland House and Ampthill, with considerable powers over them, while the moveables in the two houses were to be hers unconditionally. With Lord Holland’s death in 1840 his widow was left as sole executrix; her financial affairs were in a bad state and she was experiencing some anxiety on this account. She approached Henry with a request that he should consent to the sale of Ampthill to enable debts on the other properties to be paid off but he refused, feeling that while this would doubtless be advantageous to her he himself would not stand to gain by it. Money was needed at once for the payments of debts and a large bank loan. Henry, who spent much of his time abroad, left England again and in his absence arrangements for the sale of Ampthill continued although an unauthorised advertisement of a sale by auction caused friction in the family. A compromise was reached when the new Duke of Bedford made an acceptable offer for the estate, to which Henry Edward consented in view of the close friendship which there had always been between the two families; both Henry and his brother Charles much preferred that the estate should go to the Duke rather than to someone unknown to them. Henry himself cannot have felt any great loss at parting with it, for he had once written on a visit there: “Ampthill in beauty; but I hate the country and feel positive aversion for green fields and bleating flocks”. (August 1819) So, in the summer of 1842, the conveyance was signed by which, for the sum of £145,000 the whole property passed to the Duke of Bedford. Sources deeds in RH volumes by the Earl of Ilchester: The Home of the Hollands 1605-1820 Chronicles of Holland House 1820-1900 Elizabeth Lady Holland to her son 1821-45 Journal of the Hon.Henry Edward Fox 1818-30 Further Information Samuel Swaffield of Ampthill was for many years Lord Holland’s agent. The Swaffield collection contains Holland rentals 1824-40 (SFM2/108-130), related papers (SFM2/131-134) and one or two letters, references in account books etc. (e.g. SFM2/1-2, 31, 40, 45). THE LATER HISTORY OF THE ESTATE The history of the estate during the period 1842-1918 can be traced in the records of estate administration of the Duke of Bedford’s property (see catalogues R1-6). Some additional information is contained in correspondence in the Swaffield collection (see SFM3/) The period from about 1910 to the outbreak of war saw the break up of many large landed estates throughout the country. The Ampthill estate survived this flood of sales but was put on the market in the autumn of 1918 (for the Sale Catalogue with plan see X67/409 and X320/21). The sale was reported in the Bedfordshire Times of 1 November 1918 where details of the purchasers of the various lots were given.
  • Reference
  • Level of description
    fonds
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