Cockington Court, near Torquay in Devon, England, is Grade II* listed on the English Heritage Register. [1] The manor dates back to Saxon times, and is mentioned in Domesday Book. The current house was built in the 16th century, when it was owned by the Cary family. Today it is a craft centre and a venue for special events. [2]
The Cary family built the house in the 16th century, one of its prominent members being Sir George Cary. The house was inherited by two of his younger brothers, before his nephew, George, succeeded to ownership. On his death in 1643 the estate went to Sir Henry Cary, the last of the family to own it. [3] A Major in the Royalist Army, the Civil War forced him to sell much of his property including Cockington Court, the new owner being Roger Mallock. His son, politician [4] Rawlin Mallock, made extensive alterations in 1673. [5] [6]
A later owner, Charles Herbert Mallock, was with his wife a personal friend of Agatha Christie, who came frequently to Cockington Court for social and theatrical events. [7] In 1932 it was announced that the Cockington Estate was for sale; it was later bought by the Torbay Council. [8]
Agatha Christie was a friend of the Mallock family and came on numerous occasions to Cockington Court.
Joan Millyard was the sister of Margaret Mallock, the wife of the owner Charles Mallock, and recalled the time that Agatha visited the house. She said.
"She used to come over to Cockington Court to take part in the amateur theatricals my sister organised. I remember the time she played in a burlesque about Bluebeard and they had a photograph taken on the lawn. Oh they had a lot of fun dressing up and it was all good, clean and wholesome." [9]
In her autobiography Agatha recalled the play about Bluebeard that was held at Cockington Court. She said:
"Then, a year or so later, I lost my heart again, when acting in a musical play got up by friends in Torquay – a version of Bluebeard, with topical words, written by themselves. I was Sister Anne, and the object of my affections later became an Air Vice-Marshal. He was young then–at the beginning of his career." [10]
Biographers of Agatha Christie also recall this event. Janet Morgan said.
"As Agatha grew into her twenties, the amateur theatricals became grander, with a bigger cast: one set of photographs, taken in 1912 or so, shows her larking about with a dozen friends, the women in beads and veils and the men in baggy trousers, turbans and magnificent whiskers, for a performance of “The Blue Beard of Unhappiness”, an original work in part derived from A Thousand and One Nights, Blue Beard and light musical comedy. (Its nature is indicated by the title of Act 1: Why Did They Bag-Dad?) It was put on at Cockington Court, where Agatha’s friends the Mallocks lived; Mrs Mallock played Scheherazade, and Agatha, in voluminous harem trousers, Sister Anne." [11]
Julius Green described the play in the following terms.
"As a young woman, Agatha continued her own forays onto the stage. Photographs show her and her friends gloriously costumed for “The Blue Beard of Unhappiness”, which the programme (printed on blue paper of course) reveals to be ‘A drama of Eastern domestic life in two acts’.9 An open air production with a dozen in the cast, it is, we are told, set on a part of the terrace in Blue Beard’s castle in ‘Bagdad". [12]
Joan Millyard also recalled when Charles Mallock was killed in the war in 1917. She said.
"She became a great friend of my sister who had married a Mallock and later when my sister's husband was killed in the wars Agatha used to go over regularly to see her and her one surviving twin. My sister was expecting her twins when she was out on the road and was handed a telegram that her husband Charlie Mallock had been killed. The shock was so great to her that while the baby girl lived the boy died. Agatha was very understanding and kind to her in that period." [13]
Agatha dedicated two of her books to Margaret's older sons Richard and Christopher who are mentioned above. In 1934 Why Didn't They Ask Evans? was dedicated to Christopher [14] and in 1938 Appointment with Death was dedicated to Richard and his wife Myra whose photo is shown. The title page says “To Richard and Myra Mallock to remind them of their journey to Petra. [15]
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.
"Bluebeard" is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in Histoires ou contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of the present one to avoid the fate of her predecessors. "The White Dove", "The Robber Bridegroom", and "Fitcher's Bird" are tales similar to "Bluebeard". The notoriety of the tale is such that Merriam-Webster gives the word Bluebeard the definition of "a man who marries and kills one wife after another". The verb bluebearding has even appeared as a way to describe the crime of either killing a series of women, or seducing and abandoning a series of women.
Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
Greenway, also known as Greenway House, is an estate on the River Dart near Galmpton in Devon, England. Once the home of the author Agatha Christie, it is now owned by the National Trust.
The Mystery of the Blue Train is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on 29 March 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. The book features her detective Hercule Poirot.
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of The Boomerang Clue. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
William Carey was a courtier and favourite of King Henry VIII of England. He served the king as a Gentleman of the Privy chamber, and Esquire of the Body to the King. His wife, Mary Boleyn, is known to history as a mistress of King Henry VIII and the sister of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Cockington is a village near Torquay, in the Torbay district, in the ceremonial county of Devon, Devon. It has old cottages within its boundaries, and is about two miles from the centre of Torquay. Bus service 62 calls at the village five times per day (Mon-Fri) and is operated by Torbay Buses.
The Cary family is an English aristocratic family with a branch in Ireland. The earliest known ancestor of the family is Sir Adam de Kari who was living in 1198. Sir John Cary purchased the Manor of Clovelly in the 14th century and established the family's status as members of the landed gentry. Various branches of the family were ennobled in the late 16th and early 17th centuries as Baron Hunsdon and Viscount Falkland.
The History of Torquay, a town in Torbay, on the south coast of the county of Devon, England, starts some 450,000 years ago with early human artefacts found in Kents Cavern. There is little evidence of any permanent occupation at Torquay until the eleventh century records in the Domesday Book, though it is known that visits were made by Roman soldiers and there was a small Saxon settlement called 'Torre'. In 1196 Torre Abbey was founded here, which by the time of its dissolution in 1539, had become the richest Premonstratensian Monastery in England. The buildings were bought by Sir George Cary in 1662. The Cary family and the Briwere family between them owned much of the land now occupied by Torquay. By the 19th century, most of the land was owned by three families: the Carys, the Palks, and the Mallocks.
Very Blue Beard is a 1979 Soviet musical comedy animated film loosely based on the Bluebeard fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Directed by Vladimir Samsonov, screenplay by Arkady Arkanov. Cinematography by Vladimir Milovanov. Original music score by Gennady Gladkov. Lyrics by Yuliy Kim. Released by T/O Ekran.
Dittisham is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of the English county of Devon. It is situated on the west bank of the tidal River Dart, some 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream of Dartmouth.
Sir George Carey, JP, DL, of Cockington in the parish of Tor Mohun in Devon, England, was Lord Deputy of Ireland from May 1603 to February 1604.
Lady Eleanor Beaufort, Countess of Ormond and Wiltshire was the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1406-1455), KG, and was a sister of the 3rd and 4th Dukes of Somerset.
Colonel Archibald Christie was a British businessman and military officer. He was the first husband of mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie; they married in 1914 and divorced in 1928. They separated in 1927 after a major rift due to his infidelity and obtained a divorce the following year. During that period Agatha wrote some of her most renowned detective novels. Shortly after the divorce, Christie married Nancy Neele, and the couple lived quietly for the rest of their lives. Christie became a successful businessman and was invited to be on the board of directors of several major companies.
The Manor of Clovelly is a historic manor in North Devon, England. Within the manor are situated the manor house known as Clovelly Court, the parish church of All Saints, and the famous picturesque fishing village of Clovelly. The parish church is unusually well-filled with well-preserved monuments to the lords of the manor, of the families of Cary, Hamlyn, Fane, Manners and Asquith. In 2015 the Rous family, direct descendants via several female lines of Zachary Hamlyn (1677–1759) the only purchaser of Clovelly since the 14th century, still own the estate or former manor, amounting to about 2,000 acres, including Clovelly Court and the advowson of the parish church, and the village of Clovelly, run as a major tourist attraction with annual paying visitor numbers of about 200,000.
Tor Mohun is a historic manor and parish on the south coast of Devon, now superseded by the Victorian sea-side resort of Torquay and known as Tormohun, an area within that town. In 1876 the Local Board of Health obtained the sanction of Government to alter the name of the district from Tormoham (sic) to Torquay.
Knightstone is an historic manor in the parish of Ottery St Mary in Devon. The surviving mediaeval and Tudor grade I listed manor house is situated one mile south-east of St Mary's Church, Ottery St Mary. It was the seat of the Bittlesgate family, the heiress of which Joan Bittlesgate, daughter of Thomas Bittlesgate by his wife Joan Beauchamp, was the wife of Richard Woodville, grandfather of Elizabeth Woodville (c.1437-1492) Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV. In 1381 the Bittlesgate family obtained a licence from the Bishop of Exeter to build and operate a private chapel at their home, but no trace of the structure survives. The house has been much altered since the time of the Bittlesgate family. One Tudor-era fireplace survives in a bedroom.
Ashfield in Torquay, Devon was the childhood home of Agatha Christie. She lived there from her birth until the time of her marriage, and intermittently thereafter. She reluctantly sold it in 1940; in 1962 it was demolished and replaced with a small estate of houses. A blue plaque marks the top left corner of the two-acre property which was Ashfield. Christie loved this house, and even in old age remembered it fondly. In her autobiography, she stated:
I remember, I remember the house where I was born. I go back to that always in my mind. Ashfield. How much that means. When I dream I hardly ever dream of Greenway or Winterbrook. It is always Ashfield, the old familiar setting where one’s life first functioned… How well I know every detail there: the frayed red curtain leading to the kitchen, the sunflower brass fender in the hall grate, the Turkey carpet on the stairs, the big shabby schoolroom with its dark blue and gold embossed wallpaper.