page_title: Eggington House
section_title: John and Joan Hodgson
hierarchical_section_title: Eggington House / John and Joan Hodgson
caption_attribution_description: English: Joan Wickham, Secretary to Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst, 1913
context_page_description: Eggington House is the manor house of the village of Eggington situated near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England. The house is regarded as a very fine example of late 17th century domestic architecture, and is a Grade II* listed building. At the time of its construction in 1696 it was completely up to date and innovative in its design - which was unusual in the provinces, where architectural styles usually lagged behind that of the larger cities.
  This small mansion, built for a Huguenot from Montauban in France, a Merchant taylor John Renouille who became Sheriff of Bedfordshire. The house is of red brick. The main facade is of seven bays of classical sash windows and three storeys high. The roof line is concealed by a panelled parapet decorated with urns. The interior contains a staircase with twisted balusters.
  The house has had a varied ownership, the Renouille family anglicised their name to Reynal moved to nearby Hockliffe Grange and let Eggington. The last of the Reynal's predeceased his wife, who remarried which caused to the property to pass to her new husband named Francis Moore. By 1840 Eggington House belonged to a family called Adams.
context_section_description: John and Joan Hodgson lived at Eggington House between 1918 and 1936. During that time Sylvia Pankhurst, the famous suffragette made frequent visits to the house. Pankhurst was a friend of Joan when they were both in the suffragette movement. At that time her maiden name was Miss Joan Wickham and she was for some time the Secretary of Sylvia’s famous mother Emmeline Pankhurst. In 1913 she organised Emmeline Pankhurst’s tour of the USA and received a great deal of publicity for her work.
  Joan was born Alice Joan Wickham in 1888 in London. Her father was Lieutenant Colonel Henry Wickham and her mother was Lady Ethelreda Caroline Gordon who was the daughter of Charles Gordon, Marquess of Huntly. Joan spent much of her childhood living at Barnwell Castle and later Cotterstock Hall.
  In 1918 she married John Lawrence Hodgson who was a civil and electrical engineer.  Immediately after their marriage the couple moved into Egglington House. Here they held numerous house parties. Besides Sylvia Pankhurst they entertained other notable people. One of these was Sir Albert Richardson, a leading architect who lived in Avenue House in Ampthill. In his biography his visits to Eggington House are mentioned. The house is described in the following terms.
  “Eggington was tall and Queen Anne, three storeys of white sash windows looked out on to a carriage sweep and lavender-filled gardens, it deserved the high praise that John Hodgson had bestowed on it. The Hodgsons became firm friends and the visits between Ampthill and Eggington were frequent.”
  John Hodgson died in 1936 and Joan moved from Eggington House. She died 30 years later in Eton, Berkshire.
caption: Joan Hodgson when she was Miss Joan Wickham, suffragette, 1913
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