Emily Charlotte Meynell Ingram (1840-1904) was a British artist, traveller and the last resident of Temple Newsam House, Leeds. She was the daughter of Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax. [1]
Emily Charlotte Meynell Ingram (1840-1904) was a British artist, traveller and the last resident of Temple Newsam House, Leeds. She was the daughter of Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax. [1]
Born Emily Charlotte Wood, she was the second eldest of six children born to Sir Charles Woods and Lady Mary Woods (formally known as Grey). The Woods family were an old gentry family who were respectable York merchants. They reached this level of respectability through the discovery of coal on their ancestral estate; the great Barnsley field which help some of the Britain's richest and finest coal. In addition to this Sir Charles Woods had a successful political career, owning many seats in Garrowby and Pocklington near York; Hickleton near Doncaster and a home in London in Belgrave Square. She spent her childhood between Hickleton and London, in her diaries she described herself as a "joyous and head strong spirit". In according to J.G Lockhart her brothers colleague and biographer described her as being clever, capable but spoilt by her father making it hard for to interact with strangers as she could be difficult and dictatorial [2] She was largely involved in her father's political career [3]
As a child she would often visit Buckingham palace, she was friends with princess Victoria, Helena and Louise, often visiting for them to play together. She was particularly close to her older brother Charles, whom she would later rely on after the passing of her husband in 1871. [4]
In 1864 she married Hugo Meynell-Ingram, who was the last surviving descendant of Sir Arthur Ingram. [5] He was eighteen years older than her and they met at through a mutual friend (Lady Harcourt) whilst Emily was visiting Chiswick. They came from two very politically different houses the Woods, Emily's side of the family were Whig's. Whereas Hugo Meynell-Ingrams family were Tory. Once Emily and Hugo were married they spent most of their married lives at Hoar Cross in Staffordshire, using Temple Newsam as a place to stay when they went hunting. [4] Hoar Cross was specifically built for the married couple by Henry Clutton in 1862. [6]
When her husband died in 1871 from a hunting accident, she became a widow and childless at the age of 31 after 8 years of marriage. [7] She was devastated by her husband's death, to commemorate his memory she built a church near Hoar Cross Hall. Known as Hoar Cross Holy Angels Church. She inherited all of the Meynell Ingram properties and wealth. After losing her husband she came to rely on her family, with her younger brother (Fredrick) and his wife (Mary) who moved into Temple Newsam with her. In addition to this, she found great comfort in her Anglo-Catholic faith, spending time and money building new churches in memory of her husband and investing in charitable institutions. [1] During this period of mourning Emily Ingram devoted her time to renovating and improving Temple Newsam. She particularly spent time to Improving the Jacobean features of the house, between 1877-1900 the Library became a Chapel, she Jacobean-ised the Great Hall adding a grand oak staircase. [5]
Emily was an ardent lover of art and a practising artist. In her prime she was an accomplished sketcher and water colourist, with most of her work being passed down through the Meynell-Ingram descendants. [8] She had acquired a large collection primarily from the 17th century. Coincidentally, prior to owning the collection, in a letter to her brother on 5 June 1860 she wrote about her love of 17th Century art and how she hoped to own some paintings of her own from the period. [9] Due to the values of the time and her religious beliefs any pieces in her collection which were thought to be distasteful or erotic were either disposed of or cleaned up concealing any offensive elements. [5]
In addition to all the estates and wealth Emily inherited from her marriage, she became the proud owner of the a 360-ton schooner (yacht) with a full-time crew of over thirty people. She would take the yacht sailing for a few weeks every year, usually travelling through Europe and Mediterranean; with a party of friends and family to escape the formalities and restrictions of everyday. She would often bringing back artefacts from her travels for her homes or churches. [10]
Through her inheritance, charity work and renovations, Emily Ingram became one of the richest and most independent women in the country. Often throwing lavish dinners and shooting parties. One highlight of her social career was hosting King George V and Queen Mary in 1894 on their official visit to Leeds. [10]
Emily Charlotte Meynell-Ingram died in 1904 at Temple Newsam House, her funeral was held at Hoar Cross Hall and was buried next to her husband at Hoar Cross Holy Angels Church. [4] Since she and Hugo did not have any children, the Meynell-Ingram estates and wealth were passed down to her nephew. [9]
Today Temple Newsam House is maintained by Leeds City Council under Leeds Museums and Galleries. Hoar Cross Hall is now a spa resort with parts of the grounds being used a car park. [6]
Emily Ingram was a well known and prominent Anglo-catholic, her family were heavily involved in the Anglo-catholic religion and church. Her Brother Charles Lindley Wood was the president of the English Church Union from 1868 to 1919. Between 1872-1876, Emily Ingram had the Hoar Cross church of Holy angels built in remembrance of her husband. Within the church there is a chapel containing two marble effigies; one of Hugo Meynell- Ingram and the other of Emily Meynell Ingram lying next to each other. [11] She hired the architect George Fredrick Bodley to build the church and was in charge of the furnishing within it. The church is decorated with marble flooring, reredos, screens and a front cover. [11] Emily also added several souvenirs from her travels. [8] She also commissioned the buildings of the churches St Edwards in Holbeck (Leeds) and Altofts using her own expenses. Additionally, she was involved in the restoration of churches in Laughton. [10]
Being a devoted Anglo Catholic she would hold services on her yacht, the Ariadne. [9] In addition to the many churches Emily Ingram built or renovated, she built a church home for boys, near Hoar Cross. In 1963 a magazine called Our Waifs and Strays reported that some of the boys had seen sightings of a friendly and useful ally thought to be Emily Ingram's ghost. The home was later closed in 1983. [12]
Whitkirk is a suburb of east Leeds, England. It is situated between Cross Gates to the north, Austhorpe to the east, Killingbeck to the west, Colton to the south-east and Halton to the south-west. The Temple Newsam estate lies directly south of the area.
Temple Newsam, is a Tudor-Jacobean house in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with grounds landscaped by Capability Brown. The house is a Grade I listed building, one of nine Leeds Museums and Galleries sites and part of the research group, Yorkshire Country House Partnership.
George Frederick Bodley was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watts & Co.
Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke was the second wife of Franco-English nobleman Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and is best known as the founder of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Colton is a district of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, situated between Cross Gates to the north, Halton and Halton Moor to the west, Whitkirk to the north-west and Austhorpe to the north-east. Temple Newsam lies directly south of the estate.
Isabella Anne Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford was an English landowner, courtier and a mistress of King George IV when he was Prince of Wales. She was born in 1759 at Temple Newsam, Leeds, and was the eldest daughter of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount of Irvine, and his wife Frances Gibson Shepheard Ingram. She married Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford, in 1776, at age sixteen, being his second wife. She was known as Lady Beauchamp until 1794 when her husband succeeded her father.
Hugo Francis Meynell-Ingram was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for West Staffordshire from 1868 to 1871.
Viscount of Irvine was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created on 23 May 1661 for Henry Ingram, of Temple Newsam, Yorkshire, and Hoar Cross Hall, Staffordshire. He was made Lord Ingram at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland.
Hoar Cross Hall is a 19th-century country mansion near the villages of Hoar Cross and Hamstall Ridware, Staffordshire. England. The Grade II listed building is operated as a hotel and spa, and has facilities for conferences and weddings.
The Church of the Holy Angels is an Anglican church in Hoar Cross, Staffordshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Hoar Cross is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of East Staffordshire, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of Burton upon Trent.
All Souls' Church, Blackman Lane, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England is a large Victorian Church of England parish church. Worship at All Souls is in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England.
Sir Arthur Ingram was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1610 and 1642. The subject of an influential biography, he has been celebrated for his "financial skill and ruthless self-interest", and characterized as "a rapacious, plausible swindler who ruined many during a long and successful criminal career". Probably of London birth but of Yorkshire background, he was a very extensive landowner in Yorkshire. He acquired and rebuilt the former Lennox residence at Temple Newsam near Leeds, which became the principal seat of his family, including the Lords Ingram, Viscount Irvine and their descendants, for over 300 years.
Arthur Ingram, 3rd Viscount of Irvine was an English Member of Parliament and peer. He was the Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire and Member of Parliament for Yorkshire and Scarborough. He was the father or grandfather of all the later Viscounts Irvine.
Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount of Irvine, known as Charles Ingram until 1763, was a British landowner, politician and courtier. He succeeded his uncle to the Viscountcy and the Temple Newsam estate in Leeds in 1763.
Colonel the Honourable Charles Ingram, was a British soldier and politician.
Henry Ingram (1640–1666) was the first to hold the title Lord Ingram, and Viscount Irvine, in the Peerage of Scotland, which in English sources is usually written Viscount Irwin. The Viscountcy existed in four generations of his family before becoming extinct: the seat was at Temple Newsam near Leeds, in Yorkshire.
George Ingram, 8th Viscount Irvine (1694-1763) was an English clergyman and peer in the Peerage of Scotland. His occupation of the Viscountcy was brief, from 1761 to 1763. He was Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Mary Wood, Viscountess Halifax, formerly Mary Grey, was an English noblewoman. She was the wife of Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax, and the mother of Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax.
Frances Gibson Shepheard Ingram (1734-1807) was a wealthy heiress and landowner who was instrumental in the design of the landscape at Temple Newsam, Leeds. Frances was the illegitimate daughter of the rich Tory merchant, Samuel Shepheard; her mother was called Gibson. Samuel left Frances £40,000 in his will stating that she must not marry a peer, an Irishman or a Scotsman. She married Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin in 1758 after several years of legal dispute. At Charles's seat in Yorkshire, Temple Newsam, Frances insisted that Capability Brown redesign the parkland. Frances was an active gardener, supervising the planting in the grounds. For instance, surviving correspondence shows she helped her husband mark out where shrubs were to be planted along her gravel walk.
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