What did Mrs Wood of Eltham Lodge do during the day?

Eltham Lodge from the front, 2000

I wonder how Anna Wood spent her days in Eltham Lodge.

She was a woman of some wealth and standing in the community and there is plenty of information on how her class busied themselves.

But at present nothing has come to light about her daily routines, the local societies she may have contributed to or even what she thought.

Now this is not some idle speculation or an exercise in sexist assumptions about Anna Wood, rather an exploration of her life In Eltham from when she arrived in 1838 till her death fifty one years later.

The detailed lives of working women in Eltham have not survived but we can be fairly confident we know what they would have done involving that balancing act between home and possibly outside work but Anna is a bit of mystery.

We know she was active in protecting the estate and refused permission for the South Eastern Railway Company to build its railway across South Park which resulted in them having to site the station further south in 1866.

The Wood house and the seven servants, 1841

It would have been much the sort of life described by Mrs Beeton in her guide to Household Management * which put much emphasis on how to behave in public, and participate in charitable activities but above all how to manage the home.

And in this role a woman who employed servants had to be like a “commander of an army or the leader of an enterprise”  **

Mrs Beeton was insistent that after breakfast Jane Elizabeth’s day would include an inspection of the servant’s work and a discussion on the order of the day.  Relationships between servant and mistress should be “firm, without being severe, and kind, without being familiar.”**

And her household was large ranging from seven servants in 1841, to six between 1851 and 71, and falling to five in 1881.

Along with these big events was the inevitable round of visiting or receiving visitors, which involved a strict protocol including leaving a card in the event of the person being out and only visiting if invited.

This was especially the case if the destination was the country or another town, “Do not” was the advice of one handbook on how young ladies should conduct themselves, “visit a friend in the country, or another town, unless you have what is called a standing invitation,” for it maybe that the invitation was “designed only to make a show of politeness.” ***

It followed that before arriving at the house, the guest should have informed her host “of the exact day and hour when she may expect you.”

But these social engagements were only part of her activities.  Mrs Beeton also stressed the importance of charitable work, and above all

“Visiting the houses of the poor is the only practical way really to understand the actual state of each family; and although there may be difficulties in following out this plan in the metropolis and other large cities, yet in country towns and rural districts these objections do not obtain. 

Great advantages may result from visits paid to the poor; for there being, unfortunately, much ignorance, generally, amongst them with respect to all household knowledge, there will be opportunities for advising and instructing them, in a pleasant and unobtrusive manner, in cleanliness, industry, cookery, and good management.” ****

Rear of Eltham Lodge, 2000

There were also those activities which combined good works and social gatherings. 

In Chorlton-cum Hardy a similar rural community on the edge of Manchester, one of the most important was the church bazaar committee which included the wives and daughters of both the gentry and farmers is a good example.

The committee had been formed to raise money for the new parish church and culminated with a bazaar held at the Royal Exchange during the Easter of 1862.

It was a cross section of the township and included the daughters of the well off, farmer’s wives and married woman from the larger houses. ****

All of which leaves me  thinking that Mrs Wood would have done her bit and it is now just a matter of finding it.

*Beeton Isabella, first published in 24 monthly parts between 1859-61 before being published in a bound edition in 1861

**Ibid, Chapter 1 page 1 Google edition page 50

*** The Behaviour Book, Leslie, Miss, Willis P Hazzard, London, 1839, page 10, Google edition page 19

****Ibid, Beeton,  page 6, Google edition page 55

***** They were Mrs Ed Booth, rectory, the Misses Holt Beech House, the Misses Morton Lime Bank, the Misses Dean Barlow Farm, Mrs Whitelegg the Green, Mrs J B Wilkinson Brook Cottage, Mrs Tunder the Grange, Mrs Law the Lodge Urmston, Mrs Aders Bella Villas Whalley Range, Mrs Burghardt Whalley Range, Mrs Findeisen Holly Bank, Mrs Meredith White Thorn Cottage Pennington Brookfield House Mrs Broughton Lowe Longford Terrace Longford, Mrs Dewhurst Myrtle Lodge Longford

Pictures; of Eltham Lodge, courtesy of Darrell Spurgeon, Discover Eltham, 2nd edition 2000, and detail from 1841 census courtesy of National Archives and ancestry.co.

Living in Eltham Lodge with Mr and Mrs Wood in 1838

Eltham Lodge, 1909

Eltham Lodge is a pretty impressive pile but sadly one that passed me by when I was growing up in Well Hall which was my loss.

It was built in 1664 by the banker Sir John Shaw and was regarded by many as a very stately mansion befitting someone who had assisted Charles II while he was in exile.

Sir John’s reward had been the lease of the manor of Eltham in 1663 which ran “from Southend to Horne park, Lee, embracing the old ‘ruinated Palace (Eltham Court), and all the rights of fishing, hawking, hunting, &c., for the sum of £9 per annum, with 20s. additional for the old House.”*

Eltham Lodge, 1844

And there was still plenty there when Benjamin and Anna Wood occupied the place in 1838 for according to the tithe schedule the estate consisted of 144 acres which included the 48 acres of Front or North Park, the 74 acres of South Park along with three large ponds, “pleasure gardens, assorted out buildings, smaller gardens and part of the Park Icehouse."

So here was a large historic home set in extensive grounds and approached by a long drive with a stream from Mottingham which fed the ponds and which “was said to be full of Trout [along with] heronries within easy reach”**

Once and I suspect soon after the house was built the walls had been hung with tapestries which may have been a gift from the King to Sir John.

But what had once been the height of fashion were later discarded, with some being sold off and ending up as carpet upon the floors of local cottages.

This may well have been in the early decades of the 19th century because in 1838 Mr and Mrs Wood discovered some of the old tapestries buried underneath wall paper.

Eltham Lodge, 1858-73

Not that Benjamin Wood had long to enjoy his new home.  He died in 1845 leaving Anna to live in  in the house until her death in 1889 leaving effects worth £149,834 9s.7d.

And just as I finished the story I came across a relative of Mr and Mrs Wood who provided me with details of his Parliamentary career. He was a Whig and a radical and was MP for Southwark.

There is much more I want to know about the Woods and the house but I am content to finish with the image “of the aged Mrs Wood during the closing years of her life”, sitting in the room with the old tapestries she had uncovered and “calling to attention those tapestries, long, long after she herself had ceased to be able to see them.”

*Rev. T.N. Roswell, Eltham Golf Course, 1895, now out of print.  Quoted by R.R.C.Gregory, The Story of Royal Eltham

**ibid, Gregory,

***ibid Gregory

Pictures; Eltham Lodge  from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on
The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm detail of Eltham High Street, 1844 from the Tithe map for Eltham courtesy of Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone, http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/kent_history/kent_history__library_centre.aspx  detail of the estate from the OS map of Kent, 1858-73

Chancing the odds with Benjamin Wood, MP for Southwark and resident at Eltham Lodge

Eltham Lodge, 1909

I am back in Eltham Lodge that fine 17th century mansion just a little along from Court Yard.

It is a place I am increasingly drawn to and especially as I uncover more about Benjamin and Anna Wood who moved there in 1838, and set about restoring some of its features.

The house was set in 144 acres which included the 48 acres of Front or North Park, the 74 acres of South Park along with three large ponds, “pleasure gardens, assorted out buildings, smaller gardens and part of the Park Icehouse.”*

Their particular contribution was to uncover the 17th century tapestries which had suffered from the change of taste sometime perhaps in the early 19th century.

Tapestries in the house, 1909

These they had discovered on their first visit to the property hidden behind patterned wall paper in the billiard room and once uncovered were to remain a feature of the house throughout the rest of their occupancy.

So much so that “the aged Mrs Wood during the closing years of her life”, would sit in the room with the old tapestries “call to attention them, long, long after she herself had ceased to be able to see them.”**

And she long out lived her husband who had died in 1845 leaving her to remain in the house until her own death in 1889.

Now my interest in Benjamin and Anna is not only because of their love for Eltham Lodge but because along the way I discovered Mr Wood was an MP and a man who had challenged the odds by working his way up from humble beginnings.  His father was a serge maker and Mr Wood’s once remarked “that he had left Tiverton [Devon] a poor boy, and that he owed all his wealth to the industry which he learnt from the good example set by his parents who were poor but honest people.”***

And his business career seems to bear this out, having for many years “followed the business of a hop-merchant, and by that occupation managed a large property, [was also a large shareholder in many companies, and was a very magnificent contributor to all charitable institutions.”****

So I doubt that we should be surprised that he left £80,000 to his wife, along with a £1,000 to his brother, two nephews and Gordon Whitbread a further £100 in annuities to one of his sisters and legacies and bequests to other family members.

He was then a man of property and as such was involved in the politics of Southwark where he had lived since 1810, first as a commissioner of police and then as an MP.

The carved staircase, 1909

He was a radical although some of his political opponents as well as the electorate questioned the degree of his commitment to change.

Now at present I have just the reports of the 1840 by election which are as you might expect pretty partisan.

Still it is a start and with a bit more digging I suspect there will be plenty more about Benjamin’s politics but for the present I shall just record that he was successful and in his first year attended 188 of the 256 divisions which ranked him in the top eight.

Next; the Southwark election of 1840 and a closer look at Mrs Wood.







Pictures; Eltham Lodge, 1909,   from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm

*Tithe Schedule for Eltham, 1839
**R.R.C. Gregory, the Story of Royal Eltham, 1909

***The Observer, Sept 21 1845, courtesy of Trevena

****The Observer, Aug 17th 1845, courtesy of Trevena

Back at Eltham Lodge, courtesy of Captain Brooks and his book on Eltham Palace

I am back with the Story of Eltham Palace by Roy Brook and what a treasure trove is here.

For a start it is not just about the Palace and the royal residents who lived there but also an account of the many people who visited it and left their mark on the place and the surrounding area.

One of these was Sir John Shaw who became tenant of both the Palace and its grounds in 1663 and who went on to build Eltham Lodge.*

The Shaw’s continued to live there until 1820.  During the next 19 years it was the home of Lord Wynford, Lady Crewe and Lord Rivers and from 1840 was occupied by Benjamin and Anna Wood.

He was a banker and politician.  He died in 1845 and Mrs Wood continued to live there until her death in 1889.

The chapter on the house contains a fine plan of the ground floor.

Now I have never wandered through its doors so it is interesting to get a sense of what the place was like.

The house faced north and even now the first glimpse of the property as you walk towards it is pretty impressive.

And beyond that front door was the hall and off to the left the parlour. There were two separate staircases in the centre of the house and the breakfast and dining rooms were at the rear facing south over parkland.

“The windows were originally stone mullioned, but the stone was replaced by sash-bars in the time of George II.  

The flat roof probably had a balustraded roof gallery as its central feature when originally built.

Most of the ceilings on the ground floor and first floors are richly modelled with ornament of seventieth and eighteenth century floral design. The parlour on the ground floor has high walls richly decorated with Rococo plaster-work containing the portraits of Roman emperors.

On the first floor the Grand Parlour on the south side originally contained six Flemish tapestries, of scenes from classical mythology.”**

And as you would expect it attracted visitors one of whom was the diarist John Evelyn who recorded in his diary in July 1664 that

“went to Eltham to see Sir John Shaw’s new building; the place is pleasant if not too wet, but the house is not well contrived especially the roof, and the rooms too low pitched; the orangery and aviary handsome and a very large plantation.”

And if you want more there is always Mr Brook’s book or perhaps a visit to the Lodge.

Pictures; from the cover of the Story of Eltham Palace, and exterior and interior of Eltham Lodge from the collection of Jean Gammons.

*Eltham Lodge, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Eltham%20Lodge

In Eltham Lodge that stately pile dating back to 1664 on National Heritage Week with my friend Jean

National Heritage Week is a pretty neat idea. 

This years just ended and so I decided ti revisit a story from last year,

During the week plenty of old places from stately homes to swimming baths and more than a few Victorian cemeteries are opened up for the curious, the historically minded and those who just want to gawp.

I could have chosen the Victorian Baths on Hathersage Road, Southern Cemetery or even the Chorlton Eco Showroom which “is a lovingly refurbished old Arts and Crafts semi detached home in Chorltonville.”

My friend Jean went for Eltham Palace and Eltham Lodge.  The latter is  a pretty impressive pile which now serves as the club house of the Royal Blackheath Golf Club.

It was built in 1664 by the banker Sir John Shaw and was regarded by many as a very stately mansion befitting someone who had assisted Charles II while he was in exile.

Sir John’s reward had been the lease of the manor of Eltham in 1663 which ran “from Southend to Horne park, Lee, embracing the old ‘ruinated Palace (Eltham Court), and all the rights of fishing, hawking, hunting, &c., for the sum of £9 per annum, with 20s. additional for the old House.”*

And there was still plenty there when Benjamin and Anna Wood occupied the place in 1838 for according to the tithe schedule the estate consisted of 144 acres which included the 48 acres of Front or North Park, the 74 acres of South Park along with three large ponds, “pleasure gardens, assorted out buildings, smaller gardens and part of the Park Icehouse."

So all in all not a place to miss when its doors were thrown open and because I doubt I will ever get back to visit the place Jean shared some of her pictures of this elegant house.

So next year when Heritage Week comes round I may just zip back to Eltham and parade myself through the grand rooms of Eltham Lodge and ponder on whether the walls will talk to me of Sir John and Benjamin and Anna Wood.

We shall see.

*Rev. T.N. Roswell, Eltham Golf Course, 1895, now out of print.  Quoted by R.R.C.Gregory, The Story of Royal Eltham


Pictures; Eltham Lodge in 1909, from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm and the Lodge in 2013 from the collection of Jean Gammons