page_title: West Dean House
section_title: The James family
hierarchical_section_title: West Dean House / The James family
caption_attribution_description: Drawing of a book sale in progress at Messrs Sotheby, Wilkinson &amp; Hodge of Wellington Street, the Strand, conducted by the Chairman, E.G. Hodge, with Bernard Quaritch and other booksellers in attendance, signed "H.M.P.". Most of the buyers present can be identified as the principal antiquarian booksellers of their day.
context_page_description: West Dean House is a large flint-faced manor house situated in West Dean, West Sussex, near the historic City of Chichester. This country estate has approximately 6,350 acres of land and dates back to 1086, with various royal connections throughout the years. In 1971 the Estate became the home of West Dean College, a centre of study of conservation, arts, crafts, writing, gardening and music.
  West Dean is Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England, and its landscaped park and gardens are equally listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
context_section_description: In 1891 West Dean became the home of newly married William (Willie) Dodge James and Evelyn Forbes the daughter of Sir Charles Forbes, a Scottish aristocrat.  William James had inherited great wealth from his father, American born Liverpool based merchant Daniel James. He bought West Dean from Frederick Bowers, a merchant who had owned the property since the death of its previous owner, Caroline Mary (Peachey) Vernon Harcourt (1785-1871).  She had inherited the estate when her brother, Henry John Peachey, 3rd Baron Selsey died in 1838.  Caroline was the wife of Rev. Leveson Venables Vernon Harcourt, son of Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, Archbishop of York.  In her will she had bequeathed West Dean to a distant relative, Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, who immediately sold it to Frederick Bowers.  Clanricarde also disposed of several other properties left to him by Caroline plus the extensive library housed at West Dean, the sale of which took nine days at Sotheby's and included a copy of John Gower's rare Confessio Amantis that sold for £670. 
  When James moved to the West Dean Estate in 1891, he set about altering and greatly extending the house and commissioned Ernest George and Harold Peto to do so. Ernest George helped embellish the state rooms and Harold Peto designed a 300-foot (91 m)-long pergola, still a highlight of the gardens today. West Dean House became one of the largest flint structures in the country. The interior of the house reflects William and his brothers Frank and Arthur’s, passion for big game hunting, with souvenirs of their visits to Africa, Arabia and Afghanistan displayed throughout the house.
  House parties at West Dean were attended by The Prince of Wales - who became King Edward VII when his mother Queen Victoria died. He was Edward James’s Godfather and a regular participant of pheasant and partridge shoots on the West Dean estate. The Prince of Wales had a group of rich and entertaining friends that became known as the Marlborough House set and included people like Evelyn and her sister-in-law Mary Venetia James (née Cavendish-Bentinck).
  William and Evelyn had five children, four girls, Millicent, Alexandra, Silvia and Audrey.  In 1907, after 18 years of marriage, their son and heir Edward James was born.
  William became High Sheriff of Sussex in 1897  and Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex in 1892.  He was also appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order by Edward VII in 1908.
caption: A book sale in progress at Messrs Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge of Wellington Street, 1888.
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