STREATLAM AND GIBSIDE
In 1767 the marriage of Mary Eleanor
Bowes, heiress to the Bowes' estates
in County Durham, to John Lyon, 9th
Earl of Strathmore, merged the
interests and estates of an ancient
Durham family with those of an equally
ancient Scottish house. For the
ensuing 50 years the Earls of
Strathmore identified themselves with
their newly-acquired County Durham
estates, an identification symbolised
by their change of name from Lyon to
Bowes. From 1820 to 1885 this close
connection was severed and although in
the latter year the Earls of
Strathmore re-acquired the estates,
they were never again continuously
resident in the county.
The Bowes family's connection with the
county of Durham had begun in the
middle of the fourteenth century with
Adam Bowes' acquisition of the
lordship of Streatlam in the south of
the county and for five centuries the
family played a notable role in public
life. Adam Bowes, the founder of their
fortunes at Streatlam, was Chief
Justice and Sir William Bowes in the
mid fifteenth century spent 20 years
fighting in France. A century later
Sir George Bowes was important in
maintaining the authority of the crown
in the unruly north, and his brother
and son were ambassadors to Scotland.
Other members of the family gave less
spectacular but distinguished service
and were active on the borders, as
Wardens of the Marches and Treasurers
of Berwick, as Sheriffs of Durham and
as Members of Parliament.
Until 1713 the basis of the Bowes'
influence was the estate and castle of
Streatlam, but after that date the
acquisition of the Gibside estate gave
them an influence in the north of the
county and a share in the immense
wealth which was to be acquired from
the coal trade. It should be
remembered that their wealth was made
possible by women, children and men
working underground in intolerable
conditions and for disgracefully long
hours. The miners and their families
lived in slums, underground disasters
were commonplace and hundreds of men,
women and children died in the most
dreadful of circumstances in the
pursuit of the coal owners wealth.
This wealth made possible the building
of a splendid eighteenth-century
mansion at Streatlam and at Gibside,
the creation of one of the most
spectacular and dramatic landscapes of
that century. Coal revenues were also
the foundation of the success, through
three generations of the family, of
the Streatlam stud which reached the
height of its fortunes in the breeding
of four Derby winners between 1835 and
1853. The revenues also gave scope for
the artistic interests of George and
John Bowes; and the latter's art
collection preserved in the Bowes
Museum, forms perhaps the best-known
memorial to the family in the county.
The Bowes family, after a long and
illustrious history, reached its
greatest wealth and influence in the
eighteenth century, with the last of
its judicious marriage alliances.
Within a century and a half the
descendants of the Bowes were no
longer, truly, a County Durham family
and the twentieth century saw both
Streatlam and Gibside in ruins.
GIBSIDE CHRONOLOGY
THE MARLEYS
1200 First document mentioning
Gibside. Adam and Gilbert de Marley
(tenants) witnessed a charter. Gibside
was then owned by the Bishop of
Durham, but the Marley's did not live
there.
1325 Lease mentions fulling mill
and corn mill on the Derwent.
1333-45 Gibside held by the Marley
family of the See of Durham
by "homage, fealty, suit of
court, and one mark (13/4) exchequer
rent."
1384 Estate inherited by Alice de
Masham, who reverted the estate back
to the Marley family.
1415 Alice died, and was followed
in turn by five male Marley
descendants -
Robert, William, William,
John and Roger.
1428 First mention denoting
residence at Gibside. "Robert Marley
of Gibset leased his
fulling mill".
1540 Richard Marley died leaving an
only daughter Elizabeth as his
heiress. She had married Roger
Blakiston of Coxhoe and thus
Gibside became Blakiston property. It
passed to Roger and Elizabeth's son
William, and he left it to his nephew
William.
THE BLAKISTONS 1540 - 1713
1603 Construction of the new Hall
begun by nephew William Blakiston. (
Later in 1805 when Gibside Hall was
being extensively altered, it was
discovered that the 1603-1620
building had been built on the site of
a previous hall.
1607 Inventory of rooms of Gibside
Hall and their contents made. This is
still in existence (Durham County
Record Office) and makes fascinating
reading. The William Blakiston who
built the second Hall was succeeded by
his son Ralph, who was
created a baronet by Charles I. Sir
Ralph was succeeded by Sir William
who was succeeded by his brother
Francis.
1703 "The Great Storm" of
November 26th. Damage to
property in the North was immense.
Gibside Hall lost almost all of its
grey slate roof and hundreds of trees
were uprooted.
1713 Sir Francis Blakiston died,
leaving an only daughter Elizabeth who
had married Sir William Bowes of
Streatlam in 1694. The estate now
became Bowes' property. Gibside was
deserted in favour of Streatlam by
Sir William and his eldest son, until
his younger son came into both estates
in 1721.
THE BOWES AND BOWES-LYONS 1713 - 1973
1721 George Bowes, although being
the youngest son, inherited the
estates in 1721, on the deaths of his
elder brothers. He fell in love with
Gibside and spent much care and money
on developing and landscaping the
estate. He was a man of many
interests, rich and influential and
was for some years M.P. for Durham.
Much of his wealth came from the coal
which lay beneath his estates and in
1726 he helped form the Grand Alliance
of coal owners to control the
profitable London coal trade. This
Grand Alliance was also instrumental
in building the Causey Arch for the
easier transportation of coal from the
pits in the Tanfield area to the River
Tyne. He was also interested in Sir
Ambrose Crowley's iron works at
Winlaton, which his father had helped
to finance. He introduced fox hunting
into County Durham in 1738 and also
bred successful racehorses at
Streatlam.
1724 George Bowes married the
fourteen year old Eleanor Verney in
October, but she died the following
year.
1729 He started his landscaping
plans by planting the steep
ravines. Work on the estate
continued for the rest of his
life.
1747 His second marriage to Mary
Gilbert of St. Paul's Walden in
Hertfordshire. He gained more land and
property from this marriage. Work
began on the Terrace in front of the
Hall.
1749 A daughter born, named Mary
Eleanor, (Mary after his second wife
and Eleanor, after his first wife.)
1747-1760 A north wing added to the
Hall in same Jacobean style. New
buildings were planned in the
Palladium style of architecture. James
Paine designed a Mausoleum Chapel to
hold George Bowes' body after his
death. Classical Stables were
completed in 1760. The Column of
Liberty was built from 1750 - 1757,
but the Chapel was not started until
1760. The column is 140 ft. high and
when it was built was the tallest
building outside London. The figure of
British Liberty on the top is 12ft.
high, and is that of a lady with an
inverted cup in her hand. The figure
was carved on top of the column from a
boulder obtained from a quarry at
Crookgate, Burnopfield. The
sculptor's name was Richardson and he
was paid £40 for the work. The Column
and its scaffolding miraculously
escaped the hurricane of 1756 which
did a lot of damage on the estate. A
Banqueting House was built in the
florid Gothic style overlooking the
Lily pond, but was not used until
after George Bowes death in 1760. An
Orangery was also built and used for
growing tropical plants and fruits.
1760 George Bowes died and was
buried at Whickham. The estates and a
fortune of more than a million pounds
were left to his daughter, Mary
Eleanor. She was eleven years old when
her father died.
1760-1776 Mary Eleanor had a wide and
thorough education and lived a life of
luxury. Her father had doted on her
and in no small measure, spoiled her.
Being the heiress to such a large
fortune, as she grew up she was
naturally much sought after and
courted. After a series of
flirtations, she married the ninth
Earl of Strathmore on February 24th
1767, her 18th birthday. Mary
Eleanor's mother never favoured the
marriage and in many ways Mary Eleanor
and the Ninth Earl of Strathmore were
mismatched. Her husband had by the
terms of George Bowes' will to take
the name of Bowes. The Strathmore
family name was Lyon, and at first the
name Lyon-Bowes was assumed, but this
was later changed to Bowes-Lyon. The
marriage produced five children but
was not a success. In 1776 Lord
Strathmore died on board a ship while
returning from Lisbon where he had
been seeking a cure for his illness.
1777-1790 After the death of her
husband. Mary Eleanor left her
children in the care of governesses,
and went to her London house. Because
of her wealth and position, she was
quickly surrounded by so-called
admirers. She became involved with a
man called Gray and was expecting a
child by him. At this point in her
life, a former Irish Lieutenant named
Andrew Robinson Stoney came on the
scene. He had been married to a
Burnopfield lady named Hannah Newton
who had died at Colepike Hall,
Lanchester, where she and Stoney had
lived. It was common knowledge that
her death had been due to Stoney’s
ill treatment of her. Eventually,
after a series of underhand
manoeuvres, Stoney tricked the
unfortunate Countess into marriage. He
too, had to assume the name of Bowes
and he became notorious as 'Stoney
Bowes.' The story of this marriage is
well documented and a detailed account
of it is to be found in Ralph
Arnold's "The Unhappy Countess",
(Constable 1957). Because of Stoney's
scandalous behaviour, and shocking
treatment of the Countess which became
a subject of national interest, she
eventually managed to divorce him in
1789. Afterwards she became reconciled
to her children and lived in quiet
retirement near Portsmouth until her
death in 1800. She was buried in
Westminster Abbey. Stoney spent the
rest of his life in a debtor's prison
still trying to get his hands on the
Strathmore money. He did not succeed,
he died in prison in 1810 and was
buried in St. George's Church. During
Mary Eleanor's tenure, Gibside was not
fully used. In 1770, her coming of age
feast was held there. During
her marriage to Stoney
Bowes, he had used Gibside as a hiding
place from his creditors. It was also
useful for entertaining, his many
mistresses and also when campaigning
to become M.P. for Newcastle, to
obtain money for his election
campaign, he ordered many fine trees
in Gibside to be felled. Always in
debt, it was thanks to him that the
phrase ‘Stoney broke’ was coined.
1790-1820 In 1790. Mary Eleanor's
eldest son John, now 10th Earl of
Strathmore, purchased his mother's
life interest in Gibside. Like his
grandfather, George Bowes, he loved
Gibside and employed John Dobson to
remove the third storey of the Hall in
1805 and adorn the South Front with a
high battle mounted parapet pierced
with huge crosses. He reconstructed
the original Jacobean Porch and
restored the inscriptions and arms
facsimiles. He also added a plain wing
for an office block. The Chapel was
completed in 1812 and dedicated.
George Bowes' body was then removed
from Whickham and placed in the crypt.
The Tenth Earl also
replanted woods which had been
destroyed by Stoney. The Tenth Earl's
private life was complicated, he fell
in love with the rather wild Lady
Tyrconnel, a member of the 'Gay
Delaval' family of Delaval Hall. She
died of consumption while staying at
Gibside, causing a scandal which was
widely reported in the Northern
newspapers of that time. It was during
this upset in his life that he
completed the building of the Chapel
and partly rebuilt the Hall. While
staying at a Hunting Lodge near the
family home at Streatlam, a servant
girl, named Mary Milner attracted his
attention. She was the daughter of a
local gardener, totally uneducated by
Society's standards. He set her up in
a house in London and lived with her
there for some years. In 1811 she bore
him a son whom they named him John
Milner Bowes. John, the Tenth Earl was
very fond of his son, settling a large
sum of money on him, and arranging for
his education. In 1820, the Earl. who
was a sick man at that time, decided
to marry Mary Milner, a very noble and
brave thing to do considering their
perceived difference in class.
Because of his illness, special
arrangements had to be made, the Earl
having to be supported during the
ceremony. On the day after the wedding
the Earl died. Claims were made, on
behalf of the boy for him to inherit
the title and the estates. The Tenth
Earl, however had a younger brother
Thomas, who also claimed the title and
estates. After lengthy legal
proceedings it was finally decided
that the boy should have all the
English property on his coming of age
in 1832 and that Thomas become the
Eleventh Earl and inherit all the
Scottish property.
1820-1832 Mary Milner, now Dowager
Countess of Strathmore, lived at
Gibside and eventually married again
in 1831. Her second husband was Mr
William (later Sir William) Hutt, who
had been her son's (John Bowes')
tutor. She was 44 and William Hutt
24. Hutt was M.P. for Hull from 1832-
1841 and M.P. for
Gateshead from 1841-1874. He was
knighted in 1865 and later became an
important figure in politics. Mr
Gladstone and Lord John Russell were
guests at Gibside. In 1860 the Dowager
Countess of Strathmore, (the former
Mary Milner), died and her body was
placed in the crypt under Gibside
Chapel beside that of her first
husband, the Tenth Earl of Strathmore.
Sir William Hutt continued to live at
Gibside until 1875. He later married
again and went to live in the Isle of
Wight.
1832-1885 Gibside was owned by
John Bowes, but not used permanently.
In 1854 he married a French lady,
Josephine Benoite, Countess of
Montalbo. She was an actress and an
artist and they spent a great deal of
their time in France, but he did bring
his wife to Gibside occasionally on
visits. (The life of John Bowes is
dealt with fully in Charles Hardy's
book, "John Bowes and the Bowes
Museum". During their marriage they
bought many paintings and Objets
d'Art, intending to build a Museum in
Calais. Because of the unsettled state
in France however, plans were changed
and a site was chosen in 1864 near
Barnard Castle. Foundations were laid
in 1869. Josephine was much younger
than her husband and thought that she
would outlive him, .so a pent-house
was planned to be built on top of the
museum where she would live and be in
charge of the development of the
project after John's death. However,
in 1874, Josephine died and her body
was placed in the crypt at Gibside.
John Bowes arranged that a wreath of
flowers should regularly placed on her
coffin. In 1875 the foundations of a
Catholic Chapel in Bowes Museum Park
were laid. This was eventually to be
the last resting place of Josephine
(who was a Catholic) and her husband.
The Chapel was partly built, but
objections were raised by some
trustees of the Museum and building
was stopped. It wasn't until 1927 that
the partly built Chapel was pulled
down and re-built outside the grounds
of the
Museum.
In 1877 John Bowes
married again. His second wife was
named Alphonsine,
another French lady, This marriage was
not a success and ended in separation.
1885 The death of John Bowes, he
was buried in the crypt next to his
wife, Josephine. Having no children,
on his death, all the English estates
reverted to the Earls of Strathmore
the Bowes-Lyon family.
1889 Plan to turn Gibside into an
Hydropathic Establishment.
1908 Hall rented to Mr Victor
Crunhut, Gateshead solicitor.
1914--18 Land Army Girls billeted
in servants' quarters.
1920 The Hall was dismantled,
everything of value was removed to
Glamis Castle, the seat of the Earls
of Strathmore in Scotland.
1928 The bodies of John and
Josephine Bowes were taken from
Gibside in the early hours
of the morning and interred under a
marble slab in the precincts of the
completed Catholic Chapel near the
Bowes' Museum. There was no religious
ceremony.
1930-39 Woods felled.
1936 Visit of Duchess of York
(formerly Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,
who became the Queen Mother).
1954 Forestry Commission Leases
signed.
1964 The Queen Mother visits Chapel
privately.
1966 Chapel restored and handed
over to the National Trust, the Queen
Mother attended the special service.
1968 The Queen Mother visits Gibside Chapel for the last time.
|
