Evening star., 1923-05-31
Declares Lord Holland Real Magnet
Drawing British Leaders to Home

been satisfied under the seal OF Sc
crecy by Lord Holland. that his
adopted daughter was fully qualified
by birth to wed Prince Alloys on a
roofing Of equality and to take her
place at the court OF Vienna. This
means that she was in reality Of
royal or mediatized parentage.
HoHand House and all Lord Hol-
lands property, the estates cempris-
ing some $4,000 acres, reverted. at his
widows death in 1889. to the head of
his family-that is to say. the head
OF the senior branch of the house of
Fox. namely. the late and fifth Earl Of
leicester
Wonderfully picturesque Is this old
ElizabethaH edifice out in the Ken
sington suburb of London, nesting in
g beautiful large private park. shaded
by trees many. centuries old. beneath
the foliage of which oliver Cromwell
discussed. with Ireton the. impeach-
ment Of Charles ]. 1t is in it's big
ballroom that celebrated ball was
given in honor of that ill-fated mon
arch's marriage. while still Prince of
Wales. to Princess Henrietta Maria of
France, at which both bride and
bridegroom were present. Gen. Fair
fax made it his headquarters durin G
most of the civil war, and il was
occupied for some years by William
Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
+ x \ +
The founder of Lord Ilchester's
family. Sir Stephen Fox. who helped
In the escape OF Charles II after the
disastI GUS battle of Worcester, was
the first to announce the death of
Cromwell to the then exiled king in
Holland. refused a peerage offered to
him by James II on the condition that
he would become a Roman Catholic.
played an important part along with
Nell Gwynn in the foundation and
endowment Of Royal Chelsea Hospital
for aged and crippled so1diers-the
counterpart of the Paris Palace Of
the 1nvalideS-headed the commons
on the coronation procession of
Queen Anne and lived TO sit for Sails
bury in the first parliament of King
George /. He married for the second
time at the age of seventy-six and
had four children, two Of them sons,
who each of them became the origi-
nator of distinguished line. The
younger one, Henry was first Lord
Holland and father OF Charles Jane s
Fox. the celebrated statesman of the
reign of George III. and the eloquent
champion of the rights of the revolt
ing American colonies. The elder,
Stephen. was raised to the peerage in
1741 as Lord Stavordale. and was
subsequently advanced to the earl
dom of Leicester in 1855 Through his
marriage with Elizabeth Horner he
inherited the immense wealth which
had been accumulated by her mother
patronymic, in accordance with the
terms of her will. was thereupon
added to his own. The patronymic.
therefore, of the Earl OF leicester, in :
stead of being merely Fox like that
Of the late Lord Holland. is Fox
Strangways.
Lord Leicester is married to the
sister of the present Marquis of Lon
donderry and she was for many Years
one of the ladies in waiting of Queen
Mary besides being one of her girl
hood friends. She is one of the most
charming and hospitable hostesses in
London and has two boys and two
girls. the elder son. Lord StavordaIe,
being now seventeen and al Eaton.
** x \
Lord Leicester, by the bye, owns at
Abbotsbury. his place near Dorches-
ter. the most wonderful swannery in
Europe. They are the lineal descend
ants of the swans which fourished
there in the reign of the Danish King
Canute. who made his home at Abb
botsbury-that "A to say prior to the
Norman Conquest They have sur.
vived throughout all the wars that
have devastated England at various
times during the last thousand years
and have never been disturbed There
are always several thousand of these
beautiful birds! with their snow-white
plumes to be found there at complete
liberty. roaming and swimming about
just as they like. They are born
fighters. and during the breeding sea
son not day passes without homeric
battles between the males Indeed
the fighting is almost continual
throughout that period.
From time immemorial the swan
has always been regarded as a royal
bird. and no one besides the Earl of
Leicester, the River Thames conserv
ancy board and two of the oldest
colleges at oxford University are per-
mitted to keep. them without a special
license from the crown. issued by the
kings swan master. who is a member
of the royal household. All swans
not thus licensed and bearing the
royal license mark nicked on their
bills are confiscated by the crown
wherever found.