Blanche's Vase: Urn-ing a special place at Chatsworth

Blanche's Vase (or Urn) at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire UK

You may feel you already know Chatsworth House in Derbyshire's lovely Peak District.


Even if you've never been there!


Chatsworth House has become famous on movie screens all over the world, wearing its film star face!

In 2005, it became Mr Darcy's home, Pemberley, in the film adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice".


In 2008, it starred as itself in "The Duchess" telling the tale of its most glamorous and famous former occupant Georgiana, the 5th Duchess of Devonshire.


In 2010 it again featured on the big screen, when the cameras filmed "The Wolfman" there.

Chatsworth House, or the 'Palace of the Peak', Derbyshire, England

 I've been coming to Chatsworth since I was a kid. Getting familiar with its nooks and crannies long before I was old enough to know its history or read the maps and guidebooks. One of the first sights I remember belongs to the memory of one of Chatsworth's lesser known occupants, Georgiana's granddaughter Blanche, the 7th Duchess.

Blanche's Vase - a lasting memorial to a life ended far too soon

The first time I held a guidebook in my own hands (as opposed to visiting with my parents on their motorbike and sidecar), I noticed the words "Blanche's Vase" next to a spot at the end of an avenue of my favourite beech trees, sometimes referred to on maps as "Broad Walk" or "Long Walk".


I walked up the long avenue flanked by these stunning beech trees towards what looks from a distance a very ordinary stone pot, positioned on the highest point of the path. There are many different statues around Chatsworth. I wondered how exactly I would be sure this was what I was looking for.

From the back, nothing but bare stone. I started to walk round the huge pot and made out the letter "E". Then an "H" carved next to it. Then a "C". I was doubled up with laughter as I saw that, of course, the monument is exactly what it says in the description. A giant flowerpot crafted from local sandstone with the name of "Blanche" chipped into it by a stonemason back in 1840!

Blanche did not live a memorably glamorous life like her famous grandmother Georgiana. Her mother, Georgiana's daughter, also called Georgiana, was married to George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle. Young Blanche was born on 11th January 1812, full name Blanche Georgiana Howard. Blanche became the favourite niece of the 6th Duke of Devonshire, her mother's brother and the famous Georgiana's heir.

Blanche Georgiana Cavendish, nee Howard, standing by a column not unlike the pedestal of her vase!

Known as "Hart" because of one of his titles, Marquess of Hartington, William Spencer George Cavendish, was also called "The Bachelor Duke" for obvious reasons. He was a close friend of the Prince Regent and a prominent Whig politician. He doted on Blanche and when she married another of the Cavendish clan, Hart's cousin once removed, William Cavendish 2nd Earl of Burlington, they were very close to him and became his heirs at Chatsworth.

Hart, (William Cavendish), the 6th Duke of Devonshire, and Blanche's devoted uncle

 However, Blanche sadly died aged only 28 on 27th April 1840. Hart was devastated.

He had the vase placed in the grounds  so his niece would never be forgotten. He also left an inscription to her memory in Chatsworth's Painted Hall. It says that he completed the restorations to the House in the year of his bereavement. Neither her uncle nor her husband ever really recovered from the blow of losing Blanche. That's an amazing testament to her character and lovable nature, more than can be graven in stone.


Her uncle Hart once wrote:

"There are many things at Chatsworth that I should not have allowed myself to do had I not reposed in the thoughts of being succeeded by a person so indulgent, so much attached to me as Blanche." (Quote from 'The Garden at Chatsworth' by the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire).

A play on the Cavendish name in the family motto "Cavendo Tutus" meaning "Safe through Caution", graven in gold around the outside of the house

 
 Some speculate that Hart's fondness for Blanche and her husband William influenced his decision not to marry. Chatsworth House mounted an exhibition about him recently, calling him: 'Britain's Most Inspirational and Eligible Bachelor'.  Hart certainly is reputed to have had his fair share of mistresses positioned at handy distances from his ancestral home! He was known in contemporary accounts as 'the most princely of England's nobility'.

Certainly, if it wasn't for Hart's lasting tributes to Blanche, we would know even less about her than we do. She has always fascinated me since I first discovered her vase perched at the end of the beech avenue. The impression she left in this most beautiful corner of England, echoes sweetly from far beyond the grave.

Stunningly lovely Chatsworth House and Gardens

If you haven't had the joy of a visit to Chatsworth yet, and even if you have, there is always more to discover. You owe it to yourself. Blanche and her kin will be waiting with the warmest welcome!


Chatsworth House Official Website

Cusworth Hall: Butterflies and Bumble Bees, and what the Butler saw!

If you happen to be passing CUSWORTH HALL near Doncaster today, be sure to check out their BUTTERFLIES AND BUMBLE BEES event this afternoon. The weather seems to be fine today, in spite of a spot of summer rain earlier!

Cusworth Hall near Doncaster

Boring old M.E./CFS has spat on my attendance chances, but don't miss yours!


I have a bit of a vested interest in Cusworth. My poor long-suffering friends and family will know this by heart, but in case you don't, my link is this: my paternal great gran, twin Eliza Barrass, nee Wright (1857-1905) had a sister Lucy, the baby of the family born in 1865.

 Lucy married the love of her life, Charles Betts, on 22nd December 1890 in her native Warmsworth, at the little church now demolished and its site entombed under the M1 motorway! 

Charles became the butler ("You rang, Milady?") to Lady Isabella Battie-Wrightson, her ladyship at Cusworth in the early 20th century. Lady Isabella presided over the Hall in the last of its glory days before it passed after her death to the last squire, Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson, pictured here in Doncaster:

Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson in Doncaster

 Charles Betts, a dapper little man, judging by the existing photos, came originally from Thorne and moved to Warmsworth where he met and married my great grandaunt Lucy. As butler to Lady Isabella, Charles moved into The Lodge, the gatehouse at Cusworth with his family.

They can be seen outside the Lodge c1908. In this photo, you can see great grandaunt Lucy (who sadly died shortly after this photo was taken, aged only 42, of colon cancer and cardiac failure in Doncaster Royal Infirmary), their daughter Mary Ann, who became a housemaid at the Hall, and Charles himself.

Lucy Betts nee Wright, my great gran Eliza Barrass's youngest sister, her daughter Mary Ann and husband Charles circa 1908 outside their home, The Lodge of Cusworth Hall. The Hall itself is visible though the gateway arch, while the Betts family lived rather more humbly behind those net curtains! The original photo of which this is only a scan, can be found on p 42 of the wonderful guidebook 'Cusworth Hall and the Battie Wrightson Family'  and remains copyright of its author Gordon Smith.  I was overjoyed and overwhelmed to discover it quite by sweet serendipity while researching my own family history.

Daughter Mary Ann worked at Cusworth Hall until after her marriage to Richard Ormerod Walshaw in 1936. The Betts family is mentioned in some of the excellent Cusworth guidebooks available around Doncaster, including the one that includes these photos, and another,  'Caring for Cusworth: servants recall a bygone era...' by Alison Morrish, the Curator at Cusworth when that book was produced in 1982. I bought mine, giddy with joy as I spotted the name Betts and this photo of Lucy looking the very image of a Barrass, at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery .

Another photo in Gordon Smith's book, shows Charles (if I'm recognising his distinctive features rightly!) at Lady Isabella's right hand side, enjoying one of the Hall's famous fancy dress balls before the Great War. Her Ladyship is enthroned as a rather magnificent Britannia! 

Fancy Dress Party at Cusworth Hall prior to WW1, showing Lady Isabella and everyone on the Cusworth Estate, including my ancestors the Betts family. Scan of original photo on p 43 of 'Cusworth Hall and the Battie-Wrightson Family' copyright Gordon Smith, Doncaster 1990.

During the First World War, Charles Betts was caught on camera when Lady Isabella entertained the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry at Cusworth. My paternal grandfather, Bruce Aaron Barrass, (1891-1973) was in the same regiment.  I wish among granddad Bruce's endless loquacious stories of the past, which so fascinated me as a child, he could have spoken about his uncle Charles, butler at Cusworth Hall! Instead I had the fun of discovering this rich vein of ancestry for myself!

Housemaid, handyman and my great granduncle Charles Betts the Butler at Cusworth Hall, c 1910 (photo detail from p 41 of 'Cusworth Hall and the Battie Wrightson Family' original photo copyright Gordon Smith, Doncaster 1990)

If like me, you've missed those bees and butterflies, don't waste the opportunity through the summer of spending some time with your family, or just relaxing on your own, exploring Cusworth's beautiful and interesting Hall set in its peaceful rolling grounds with magnificent trees, lawns and soothing water features. 

Cusworth Hall is one of the real precious jewels in Doncaster's battered but beautiful crown!

Some more info on this link


and on Cusworth Hall's own excellent website: http://www.cusworth-hall.co.uk/