Publications
Uppark and Its People, by Margaret Meade-Featherston-Haugh and Oliver Warner, published 1964 (118 pp & 14 pp. of plates, Allen and Unwin) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10509][Lib 10640] & R.I.B.A. Library & East Sussex Libraries
Review by K. M.E. M. [K. M. E. Murray] in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1964:It would be impossible to write a dull book about Uppark and its owners. There is a sleeping-beauty quality about this remarkable house, perched on the Downs above South Harting, in which the eighteenth century is still so completely preserved. This is because it has had only seven owners since it was built in 1690 - the span of the lives of three of them covering the 141 years from 1754 till 1895 - and because the most recent have all been concerned to avoid innovation. Thus the eighteenth-century decorations, furniture and fittings are still virtually intact and with the exceptional wealth of manuscript materials - deeds, account books, letters and diaries also found there this enables the life lived by its owners to be reconstructed in detail. In addition it so happened that the people of Uppark were colourful characters: Ford Lord Grey, Earl of Tankerville, who built the house, figures in national history through his support of the Duke of Monmouth and Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh who bought the property in 1747 was typical of the eighteenth century in his culture and good taste. His son Sir Harry stands out as the principal figure in the history of the house; in his gay youth the lover of Emma Lady Hamilton and the friend of the Prince Regent, when he was over 70 he married Mary Ann Bullock the dairy maid.
Since the present owners, Admiral and Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh handed over the guardianship of the house to the National Trust, hundreds of visitors have been able to see its treasures and hear something of its history and they will welcome this book which is an expansion of the useful little guide book produced by the Trust. It is written for the general reader rather than the professional historian and is well produced although it appears rather highly priced for its length. There are fourteen illustrations which are good so far as they go, but obviously there is much more that could have been included and a plan would have been helpful even to those who know the house fairly well.
Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh has been working on the manuscripts for over thirty years, but though we are given some delightful and very interesting extracts from them, the book leaves one hungry for more and also still without any very clear idea of the full extent of the material available. Now that the manuscripts have been catalogued a short account of them would have been useful and also some more precise indications of the sources of the extracts used.
This is in fact not the 'last word' on Uppark for which we have been waiting, but none the less the book contains much that is good reading. The story of the project for founding a new colony in America to be called Vandalia is given in some detail, and there is a picture of Henry Keene's design for the Gothic tower which remains as a memorial to Sir Matthew's interest in the scheme. A chapter is devoted to the correspondence between Sir Harry and Humphrey Repton, who was employed to carry out some alterations, and this is interesting not only for the history of the house but also in relation to the taste of the period. There is a charming account of rural life in the 1770's based on the account books; sixteen labourers in round white smocks and tall black hats worked in the beech woods, the blacksmiths drank eight pints of beer before breakfast and home-brewed beer was piped from the brewhouse to the hall for employees. To the story of Sir Harry courting Mary Ann in the dairy is added the oral tradition that when she could not find words to reply to Sir Harry's proposal he said "Don't answer me now, but if you will have me, cut a slice out of the leg of mutton that is coming up for my dinner to-day."
The epilogue is written by Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh and reminds us again of the exceptional good fortune which brought the house into the hands of one who could appreciate the romance of its past. Her work in restoring the brocade curtains with the aid of soap made of the herb Saponaria is briefly mentioned, but those who have not been to Uppark would hardly appreciate from this account the extent of the labour and its almost miraculous results. Who but Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh would ever have attempted this seemingly impossible task? This house and its contents has indeed been blessed in its owners. It is to be hoped that we shall not have to wait for another thirty years to be told more about them.
Since the present owners, Admiral and Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh handed over the guardianship of the house to the National Trust, hundreds of visitors have been able to see its treasures and hear something of its history and they will welcome this book which is an expansion of the useful little guide book produced by the Trust. It is written for the general reader rather than the professional historian and is well produced although it appears rather highly priced for its length. There are fourteen illustrations which are good so far as they go, but obviously there is much more that could have been included and a plan would have been helpful even to those who know the house fairly well.
Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh has been working on the manuscripts for over thirty years, but though we are given some delightful and very interesting extracts from them, the book leaves one hungry for more and also still without any very clear idea of the full extent of the material available. Now that the manuscripts have been catalogued a short account of them would have been useful and also some more precise indications of the sources of the extracts used.
This is in fact not the 'last word' on Uppark for which we have been waiting, but none the less the book contains much that is good reading. The story of the project for founding a new colony in America to be called Vandalia is given in some detail, and there is a picture of Henry Keene's design for the Gothic tower which remains as a memorial to Sir Matthew's interest in the scheme. A chapter is devoted to the correspondence between Sir Harry and Humphrey Repton, who was employed to carry out some alterations, and this is interesting not only for the history of the house but also in relation to the taste of the period. There is a charming account of rural life in the 1770's based on the account books; sixteen labourers in round white smocks and tall black hats worked in the beech woods, the blacksmiths drank eight pints of beer before breakfast and home-brewed beer was piped from the brewhouse to the hall for employees. To the story of Sir Harry courting Mary Ann in the dairy is added the oral tradition that when she could not find words to reply to Sir Harry's proposal he said "Don't answer me now, but if you will have me, cut a slice out of the leg of mutton that is coming up for my dinner to-day."
The epilogue is written by Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh and reminds us again of the exceptional good fortune which brought the house into the hands of one who could appreciate the romance of its past. Her work in restoring the brocade curtains with the aid of soap made of the herb Saponaria is briefly mentioned, but those who have not been to Uppark would hardly appreciate from this account the extent of the labour and its almost miraculous results. Who but Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh would ever have attempted this seemingly impossible task? This house and its contents has indeed been blessed in its owners. It is to be hoped that we shall not have to wait for another thirty years to be told more about them.
Uppark and Its People, by Margaret Meade-Featherston-Haugh and Oliver Warner, published 21 April 1988 (New edition, 122 pp., Ebury Press, ISBN-10: 0712618643 & ISBN-13: 9780712618649) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries