HIS MARRIAGE
First Visit to the Deepdene--Finds a Relation in His
Bedroom--Engagement to be Married Announced--School Treats--One New
Year’s Morning--King Edward VII Visits the Deepdene When Prince of
Wales--A Narrow Escape--“Tommy, Where Are You?”--Why Lord William
wore a Turban--Fast Trotters and Their Doings--Mishap on the Way
to the Derby--Racing in England--Racing Geography--Another Racing
Partnership--Accident While Hunting--Mr. Palmer to the Rescue--Lord
William Tells a Story Against Himself--A Son Born.
We now enter on the short third volume of Lord William’s life. He
landed in England during the spring of 1894, bringing with him
various faithful retainers, also some favourite horses and ponies. In
June of that year he paid his first visit to the Deepdene, Dorking,
as a guest of Lily Duchess of Marlborough, having been invited at
Lady Sarah Wilson’s suggestion to make up a party for Ascot races.
It will be remembered that Lady Sarah was a sister of the 8th Duke of
Marlborough, whose widow was renting the Deepdene.
Lord William was amused to find in his bachelor bedroom a print
of one of his relations, namely, Lord Marcus Gervais Beresford,
Archbishop of Armagh, Lord Primate of Ireland, whose eldest son
married Mary Annabella, sister of Sir William Vernon Harcourt, who
was first cousin to the author’s mother; Sir William’s mother
and author’s grandfather being brother and sister (_vide_ Burke,
Gooch-Vernon Harcourt); the author’s mother having been Miss Mary
Teresa Gooch, daughter of the Rev. William Gooch, Canon of York; she
having married Robert Calverly Bewicke-Bewicke, B.A., J.P., D.L., of
Coulby Manor, Yorkshire.
It is interesting to note Lord William’s father married his beautiful
wife while on a visit to this self-same gentleman looking down from
the walls of the Deepdene.
In September Lord William returned to India for a few months to
attend to some business and racing matters, after which he announced
his engagement to Lily Duchess of Marlborough, which came as a
surprise to most people. In India he was gradually becoming regarded
as a confirmed bachelor, though it seemed incredible that anyone who
was such an admirer of the fair sex and who was equally admired by
them in return should be able to escape; indeed, his having escaped
is only one more proof of his cool head and ability.
It was not a long engagement, April 30th, 1895, was chosen for the
wedding; when Lilian Warren, daughter of Cicero Price, Commodore
of the U.S. Navy, married Lord William Beresford as her third
husband, the first having been Mr. Louis Hammersley of New York, an
exceedingly wealthy man who left his wife a large fortune. Secondly,
she married the 8th Duke of Marlborough, who died in 1892, but not
before the Duchess’s fortune had done much for Blenheim Palace.
[Illustration:
_Photo. Russell, Baker Street_
LILY, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH]
Lord William and his bride made their vows at the Church of
St. George’s, Hanover Square, witnessed by crowds of friends. The
bridegroom was supported by his younger brother, Lord Marcus, as
best man. Her Grace was given away by her stepson the 9th Duke of
Marlborough.
The Church was charmingly decorated with lilies of all sorts, a
pretty compliment to the bride’s name.
The Duke of Cambridge sat beside Lord William and the United States
Ambassador and Mrs. Bayard beside the bride. When the service was
over Lord and Lady William Beresford drove to the bride’s house
in Carlton House Terrace, where they received the congratulations
of their many friends, all of whom did justice to the good things
provided for them.
Later in the day the bride and bridegroom left the town for the
Deepdene, that lovely place being rented from Lord Francis Hope. It
stands on the eastern side of the old coaching road near Dorking. On
the north the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway winds. The
grounds around the house are amongst the most beautiful in England,
when the rhododendrons are in flower the gardens and grounds are a
blaze of colour and a delight. It is charmingly secluded and yet near
enough to the world to easily see as much of it as might be desired.
It was here, I believe, that Beaconsfield wrote his _Coningsby_.
The original house was built in Charles I’s reign by the Hon.
Charles Howard, son of the Duke of Norfolk, but it was pulled down
and rebuilt by a descendant and eventually sold to a Mr. Hope, a
very rich art collector, whose daughter married the late Duke of
Newcastle, and at her death the Deepdene became the property of Lord
Francis Pelham-Clinton, a grandson of the Duke’s, who took the name
of Hope on succeeding to the estate; he leased the place to Lily
Duchess of Marlborough for twenty-one years, and it was there the
last few years of Lord William’s life were mostly spent.
It seems a strange coincidence that Lord William’s wife should have
lived five years with her first husband, five years with the second
and five years with the third!
It was a great pleasure to Lord William fixing up all his trophies
and treasures in their permanent home. The dining-room, the
billiard-room, the front hall and indeed every nook and corner were
filled with them, all having interesting histories of their own.
An arcade runs round three sides of the lofty hall, above this there
is a gallery where guns, spears, assegais, antlers, racing cups, and
beautiful inlaid vases are arranged in profusion. Also regimental
trophies, of which he was fond and proud, for he loved his old
regiment.
In the billiard-room there are many masterpieces of great value,
also in one corner stands a small easel in which reposes a picture
entitled “Bill wins,” below is an inscription, explaining the scene
at Curraghmore Steeplechases on April 30th, 1874, his wedding having
taken place exactly twenty-one years after on April 30th, 1895.
[Illustration: THE DEEPDENE, DORKING]
[Illustration: FRONT HALL AT THE DEEPDENE]
One of the ambitions of Lord William’s life was to win the Derby,
and he began looking about him for likely winners; it did not take
him long to collect some useful horses, though I doubt very much
if his racing in England ever gave him as much pleasure as it did in
India. His wife was most interested in his horses and was as anxious
as he was that he should own the best. She was a kind-hearted woman
who did a great deal for the comfort and happiness of all around her,
the poor of Dorking are not likely to forget her or her husband, for
they closely associated themselves with all the local charities and
philanthropic undertakings.
Nothing pleased Lord William better than to have a house full of
people; he loved to have some of the old 9th with him. It had been
hoped when he settled down to home-life he would take things more
easily, but he still continued to cram two or three days’ work into
one, just as he did in India, he had not yet found a day quite long
enough for all he wanted to do.
On his birthday he always gave all the Dorking school children
a treat in the park at Deepdene, entertaining about 1800 of all
denominations, and surely no children were ever so entertained
before, no expense was spared that would add to their pleasure, and
he always took part in the proceedings himself, which added much to
the children’s pleasure, while, I believe, he enjoyed it himself
thoroughly; he loved to see children happy and hear them laugh. He
arranged their races, threw bags full of pennies to be scrambled
for, taking particular notice of any child, girl or boy, who after
striving was not strong enough to capture any pence amongst the
hustling crowd of eager bairns, these he used to reward with pennies
privately; he said he could not bear the look of disappointment on
their faces when time after time they failed.
Lord William never imagined he could be imposed upon, with the
exception perhaps of a certain section of the racing fraternity, but
children managed to do it fairly successfully sometimes.
One New Year’s morning, for instance, he had asked Mr. Palmer,
who attended to all his wife’s business when she was Duchess of
Marlborough (and afterwards to the time of her death) to breakfast
with him at nine o’clock. Arriving at the Deepdene and finding his
lordship had not finished dressing he went to his room to talk to him
until his toilet was completed. On entering he found Lord William
with the French windows open and a small crowd of children standing
outside uttering the time hallowed, “Wish you a happy New Year, sir,”
while the recipient of those kindly wishes was throwing occasional
shillings and sixpences to the expectant little crowd. Mr. Palmer
watched for a short time and then said, “Well, these kiddies are
getting the best of you.” “How?” asked Lord William. “Why,” said
Mr. Palmer, “in the first place, they go away and bring others, and
in the second, some of them have been up, gone, and come back again
without your noticing it, possibly may have been two or three times.”
“Oh, no!” replied Lord William, but he turned to one group who were
very fervent in their wishes for his happiness and asked, “How many
times have you been here this morning?” The reply came, “Only twice,
sir,” without a moment’s hesitation. He then turned to a group of
three boys, one somewhat older than the other two, and said to the
biggest, “If I give you a shilling, how will you divide it among the
three of you?” The boy considered for a moment and then replied, “I
would keep sixpence myself and give the other sixpence to the other
two.”
Lord William foretold a great career for this specimen. While walking
into the dining-room Lord William said to Mr. Palmer, “I suppose some
of those kids have been too bright for me, but after all what does it
mean; I suppose I have given away a fiver and with that fiver I have
carried joy and satisfaction to many a child’s heart, better so than
losing fifty to some bookie. In the one case I do get something for
my money, in the latter case nothing.”
In October, 1895, King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, stayed
with the Beresfords at Deepdene, others staying in the house at the
time were the Sassoons, Colonel Brabazon 10th Hussars, otherwise
known as “Beautiful Bwab” (he had some difficulty with his r’s),
Captain Holford, Lady Sarah Wilson and Mr. Winston Churchill, also, I
believe, Mr. Charles Moore.
His Majesty enjoyed his visit. He was taken to see the Home Farm
where Lord William attended to his business and where he kept all his
horses except his racing stud; they were at Epsom, under the care of
Mr. Willson, who came from India with Lord William. The farm was a
delightful sunny spot and was occupied by Lord Bill’s head man and
his wife; occasionally his lordship had some cheery bachelor parties
there. The view was charming, looking over Boxhill and the North
Downs, sweeping the valley towards Reigate and Bletchingley. It was
on these downs that Bishop Wilberforce met his death in 1873; the
church there is a memorial to him.
Soon after his marriage, Lord William had one of his many accidents
while driving a fast trotter named Hugh from Leatherhead. The only
other occupants being Lord Marcus and the groom Tommy Ryan, who came
from Curraghmore. The night was very dark and wet, but they were
thundering along at a very fast pace when Hugh shied violently,
upsetting the whole caboodle. When they began collecting themselves
Tommy was missing, so his master shouted out, “Tommy, where are you?”
From the other side of a wall came the answer, “I’m here, my lord,
on my head in a ditch.” The brothers were much amused. Amongst other
things Lord Bill’s head was cut, obliging him to appear at breakfast
next morning with it bandaged up; his mother who was staying there
at the time asked anxiously what was the matter, he wished to avoid
frightening her so told one of those useful white lies which oil the
wheels of life, saying quite coolly that he always wore a turban on a
certain anniversary of some event in India! which quite satisfied his
mother.
A fast trotter or two for his buggy was considered a necessity, and
he brought his chestnut mare, Ilee, from India with him, he said
he could not part with her, she had so often saved his life by her
sagacity. She apparently did not leave her wisdom behind her in the
East, for one night when for a wonder Lord Bill was alone and driving
her home in the dark, as he turned into the lower drive at the
Deepdene and she was doing a little bit of her best, she suddenly
stopped dead, causing a bit of a splutter but probably saving Lord
William’s life, for, thinking he had returned, the lodge keeper had
put up the bar for the night across the drive blocking ingress or
egress without his permission and knowledge.
Some of Lord William’s trotters did remarkable things; Harry, another
prodigy, he raced against a train between two stations on the
Brighton line, I believe it was between Burford and Dorking, for a
bet, of course, and ended in a dead-heat! It used to be quite a joke
amongst the people of Dorking when they heard one of the trotters
thundering down the road to shout out, “Clear the way for his
lordship,” all using their best endeavours to clear everything out of
his way. The Dorking people had taken him to their hearts, and they
were so proud of all his feats and doings. It must be recognised more
indulgence and latitude was allowed to his lordship than would be
extended to everybody, but that is just one of the remarkable things
about him, everybody succumbed to him, allowing licence that would
certainly not have been permitted to anybody else.
Piloteer, a handsome grey trotter, won many prizes at Richmond,
Dublin and other places. I am able to give a good photo of him taken
just after winning one of his prizes. He was an Irish horse.
During 1896 there were various hairbreadth escapes, without which
I am sure Lord Bill would have felt dull. While driving his coach
from Ascot to Bishopsgate when trying to pass some other coaches the
leaders stepped into a furze-bush and then bolted; if history tells
true the coach was upset, but of that I cannot speak with certainty,
but I do know for certain that all in the coach were full of praise
for the wonderful driving which had enabled them to escape unhurt. On
the coach at the time were Lord and Lady Marcus Beresford, that fine
old sportsman, Colonel Chaine, and his wife, Major Braithwaite and
Mrs. Featherstonhaugh.
Another mishap occurred once going to the Derby, I think, if I
remember rightly, when some of the occupants were landed over a hedge
into a field. They were all men this time and one who was there told
me about it. I believe it happened when his lordship was racing
against young Mr. Fownes; at least that is how the tale was told to
me, but it was long ago and I hope I am not taking anybody’s name in
vain.
Lord William’s coach was always one of the best turned out and horsed
at the Coaching and Four-in-hand Club meets.
His first successful racing season after his return to this country
was 1896. He knew the business thoroughly from A to Z, to which
much of his success was due, for it is no use anybody saying in a
light-hearted way “I am going to race,” expecting to do wonderful
things because they know the points of a horse and have judged
the jumping at local agricultural shows; it not only spells
disappointment, but often financial disaster. No one unless they have
been behind the scenes or learnt by bitter experience can form any
idea of how much there is to know before there is even a possibility
of success. To begin with, and it is a big beginning, there are the
numerous authorities which it is wise and advantageous to keep in a
pleasant frame of mind, and under no circumstances bandy words with,
or argue; fancy arguing or bandying words with the Jockey Club for
instance, the National Hunt Committee, or the Turf Club of Ireland;
yet all have to be considered. Many are the rules, regulations,
and niceties in the way of etiquettes requiring digestion, all an
education in themselves.
I had not grasped until Lord William explained it to me that
according to the rules of racing geography, Ireland, the Isle of Man,
and the Channel Islands are _not_ included in the expression Great
Britain, they are _only_ the United Kingdom.
Another perplexing thing when you see “owner” in connection with a
horse’s name you rather naturally conclude the horse belongs to him,
but as a matter of fact it may mean almost anything, the horse may
only have been leased for his racing years, or he may be shared by
partners when presumably only half the horse belongs to “Owner.”
All of this was of course A B C to Lord William, and he knew every
race, its dates and distances, stakes and conditions by heart. He
considered Newmarket the best course in the world.
Liverpool is a terror; if any of my readers are interested in
steeplechasing and have not been over the Aintree Course there, I
advise them to walk round and look at the jumps in cold blood, they
will wonder any horses or men can be found with pluck enough to face
them. No Beresford, as far as I know, has ever yet seen his colours
carried successfully in that much coveted prize, the Grand National
at Liverpool, though Lord Marcus got fairly near once with Chimney
Sweep, when he ran second to Captain Machell’s Reugny, ridden by
that splendid amateur Mr. J. Maunsell Richardson, in 1874, and again
in 1879, when Jackal carried the light blue and black cap, being
beaten by Mr. Garry Moore on the Liberator. A Liverpool which will
possibly for ever bear the unprecedented mark of four brothers,
namely the Beasleys, having mounts in the chase, and they all made
the course, “Tommy” Beasley coming home behind Lord Marcus’s horse.
Some of the Irish courses are also formidable. At the modern
Leopardstown, for instance, where in the past there has been plenty
of grief. Punchestown is not quite so bad; Irish horses do well
there, they understand the kind of jumps.
At the end of 1895, Lord William entered into partnership with Mr.
Pierre Lorillard, sharing a number of race-horses with him, amongst
the most successful being Paris III, which was bought in 1896 from
Mrs. White, who was I believe the widow of the Hon. James White so
successful in Australian racing. The horse had raced in England in
her name before being purchased by Lord William, but had done no
good, directly he appeared in Lord William’s colours he won the
popular Northamptonshire Stakes, value £925; now many years defunct.
Five horses ran, but Paris III won by six lengths; it was a popular
victory as he was favourite at 2 to 1. Cannon was up and the horse
carried 3 lbs. overweight, nevertheless he won easily; he also won
the Prince’s Handicap at Gatwick as well as the Lewes Handicap.
Amongst other horses owned at this time were Diakka, Myakka, Caiman,
and Nonsuch, sold later to the Prince of Wales, also Berzak, which
latter was a bitter disappointment, as he failed to stand his
preparation for the Derby.
The partnership did not last long, as the doctors advised Mr.
Lorillard to give up racing for a time, but they had won twenty-seven
races before the partnership was dissolved. Lord William bought Mr.
Lorillard’s interest in the stable.
In December, 1896, while out with the Warnham Stag Hounds, Lord
William met with a terrible accident, Mr. Palmer, who has already
been mentioned, happening to be out the same day on a horse he
had lately bought from his lordship; they were both crossing the
Gatwick racecourse after a check, there were some stiff railings
in front of them, which there was no occasion to jump as there was
an opening further down, but a lady riding in front cleared the
rails satisfactorily, that was quite enough, for Lord William must
of course follow; unfortunately either his horse slipped or took
off too late, turning a somersault over the railings, poor Lord
William beneath him dangerously near his heels, but he called out
to Mr. Palmer to sit on his horse’s head, when a most curious thing
happened. Mr. Palmer in his anxiety to get quickly to help his
lordship did not notice some wire netting under the broken fence,
over this he fell right on to the horse’s head, this so startled
him he got up without any kicking or plunging, releasing his rider.
Help was called, as evidently Lord William was badly hurt; on a
stretcher they carried the poor sufferer to a neighbouring house,
where he was examined, but in the stress and hurry a wrong diagnosis
was arrived at. Mr. Palmer telegraphed to London for a specialist,
and to his local doctor at Dorking, then a medical man who happened
to be present and Mr. Palmer took him home, where the local doctor
was awaiting them and shortly afterwards the specialist from town
arrived. It was then discovered that his pelvis had been broken,
so his suffering can be well imagined; they had been considerably
augmented I hear at the house he was first carried into with the
kindly but terribly mistaken endeavour to pull off his boots
instead of cutting them off. Mr. Palmer says he shall never forget
the agonies that were suffered and yet not a murmur or word of
impatience, not even a groan from the martyr. He was most anxious his
wife should not be shocked with the news, as an interesting event
was looked forward to in the early spring, and she was at the time
resting. The news was carefully kept from her until the doctors had
done their work. He was bound up and put to bed, where of course he
remained for some time hovering between life and death. One day when
his doctors hoped he had turned the corner and was going to recover,
they told him he was with luck going to recover, but that 99 out of a
100 with broken pelvis bones did not. As they were leaving the room
they heard Lord Bill laughing, seeing nothing to laugh at they asked
what amused him, he replied, “Oh nothing, I was only thinking of the
other 99 poor devils!”
Certainly Lord William got about again after a time, but he was never
the same man, his pluck and spirit were still unquenchable, but his
powers of physical resistance were shattered. He tired more easily
and did not feel up to much exertion; he got up too soon, being
anxious to attend the funeral of his sister-in-law, Blanche Lady
Waterford, to whom he was greatly attached. This was February 22nd,
1897. Everybody tried to dissuade him, fearing it might throw him
back, but he would go.
Lord William was at his best when telling stories against himself;
here is one of them. He had a party in the house for covert shooting,
he did not care very much for the sport himself, and had not done
much of it, though he enjoyed a day at the time. He used to leave
the arranging and managing of the shoots chiefly to Mr. Palmer. One
of these shooting parties was being arranged and he told Mr. Palmer
to bring his young son whom he was sure would enjoy a day with the
pheasants. The little lad was about twelve, and his name was Spencer,
he stood mostly by Lord William during the day. When he went home at
night having had a very happy day, he asked his father if he ought
not to write and thank Lord William for letting him see the shooting,
to which his father replied, “Certainly.”
“What shall I say, father?” asked the boy.
“Oh, you must write your own letter, you are quite old enough for
that,” so off he went, wrote the letter and posted it.
Next morning when everybody was assembled at breakfast at the
Deepdene before another day’s shoot, Lord Bill entered holding a
letter in his hand, and after making some jokes about his own prowess
with the gun and he feared his merits were not fully appreciated by
his friends, said, “Listen to this, the opinion of one of my young
friends,” and he read:
“DEAR LORD WILLIAM,
I have enjoyed to-day very much, I think you shot very well. I
noticed you generally killed the birds with the second barrel.
Your friend,
SPENCER PALMER.”
The most successful of Lord William’s horses in 1896 were Diakka,
Peveril of the Peak Plate being his greatest triumph; Berzak the
Newmarket First Spring Two Year Old Stakes, and in the Clearwell
Stakes he ran a dead heat with Goletta, on whom odds were laid.
Nonsuch won two small races.
[Illustration: LORD WILLIAM--IN OFFICIAL CAPACITY]
[Illustration: LORD WILLIAM AND HIS SON BILLY]
On February 4th, 1897, a son was born to the William Beresfords;
at first he was very delicate, no doubt owing to the anxiety his
mother suffered when Lord William had his accident in December,
1896, so small and delicate was he that he was put into an incubator
for a short time, fearing a breath might blow him away; now he is a
six-footer, so his nursing and care answered. He was named William
Warren de la Poer. Both parents were devoted to their child, who was
very like his father. When Lord William was driving his wife on the
coach and was going rather faster than she liked (she being very
nervous) and remonstrating he used to say, “Oh, I thought you would
be in a hurry to get back to the boy!” As the baby grew older Lord
Marcus used to tease its father by saying, “The child does not know
the difference between you and me,” but baby did and always chose to
go to Lord William.