page_title: Beaumanor Hall
section_title: The Herrick family
hierarchical_section_title: Beaumanor Hall / The Herrick family
caption_attribution_description: English: House party at Beaumanor Hall, Woodhouse in 1926
context_page_description: Beaumanor Hall is a stately home with a park in the small village of Woodhouse on the edge of the Charnwood Forest, near the town of Loughborough in Leicestershire, England. The present hall was built in 1842–8 by architect William Railton and builder George Bridgart of Derby, for the Herrick family, with previous halls dating back to the 14th century, and is a Grade II* listed building It was used during the Second World War for military intelligence. It is now owned by Leicestershire County Council as a training centre, conference centre and residential facility for young people.
context_section_description: William Perry Herrick (1794 – 1876) who built the present house in about 1850 was born in Wolverhampton in 1794. His father was Thomas Bainbrigge Herrick who was a barrister and his mother was Mary Perry daughter of James Perry of Eardisley Park. William spent his childhood in his family home Merridale House (now called Bantock House) in Wolverhampton. He went to Oxford and became a barrister. In 1832 his uncle who owned Beaumanor died and as he had no male heirs the property was inherited by William. He also inherited Earlisley Park in 1852 when his maternal uncle James Perry died. These properties and their associated landholdings made him a very wealthy man.
  He lived with his younger sister Mary Ann Herrick (1796-1871) at Beaumanor for many years. Mary Ann had inherited money from her mother in her own right and was known to be a great benefactor. An account of her generosity was contained in a book about Leicestershire. It stated:
   "Many were the gifts made to the church by this benevolent lady ; to give an account of them is impossible. The best known examples of her munificence are the almshouses at Woodhouse, built in 1856 ; a house for the schoolmaster and mistress at Woodhouse Eaves, built in i860 ; the infant school in the same parish, built six years later ; and the dispensary at Loughborough, built in 1862, at a cost of 5000 pounds ; the expense of the last two benefactions being shared by her brother, William Perry Herrick, Esq., of Beaumanor."
  William also gave generously to the Anglican Church. In 1872 he paid for the construction of St Marks Church in Leicester with some help from his sister.
  In 1862 William married Sophia Christie (1831-1915) who was 37 years his junior and the daughter of Jonathan Henry Christie, a London barrister. The couple had no children. His sister Mary Ann who continued to live at Beaumanor died in 1871 and William died in 1876. He left all of his property to his wife Sophia and on her death to his relative Montagu Curzon.
  Sophia managed the Beaumanor estate for the next 40 years and was well regarded by the tenants. She kept a fairly large number of household staff one of whom was Elizabeth Ellerbeck (1843 – 1919) the housekeeper who remained with her for over 30 years.
  Sophia died in 1915 and Beaumanor was inherited by William’s relative William Montagu Curzon who took the additional surname of Herrick in 1915 when he became owner of Beaumanor. 
  William Montagu Curzon Herrick (1891-1945) was born in 1891 in London. His father was Colonel Montagu Curzon who was named by William Herrick as his heir when his wife Sophia died. In 1898 shortly after Sophia built Garatshay which is near Beaumanor, the family moved to this residence. Unfortunely Montagu died in 1907 and did not gain his inheritance. His wife Esme remarried the Reverend King and the family continued to live at Garatshay.
  Shortly after William inherited Sophia's property he married Maud Kathleen Cairns Plantagenet Hastings (known as Kathleen) who was the daughter of the 15th Earl of Huntingdon.
  In 1923 a wedding was held at Beaumanor which was widely reported in the newspapers. It was the marriage between Dorothy Hastings the cousin of Kathleen and the Queen’s nephew Lord Eltham. One newspaper gave the following description of the wedding.
  "The bride who was given away by her father wore a cream satin dress with a long trail of orange blossom on the left side, long tight fitting sleeves, train of cloth of gold and Brussels lace veil (heirloom of the bridegroom’s family). She carried a bouquet of deep cream roses and wore a pearl ribbon with a diamond pendant, the gift of the Queen.
  "She was attended by two bridesmaids who were attired in powder blue satin, veiled with heavy silver lace, powder blue sleeves and belt of chiffon. They carried arum lilies and wore diamond arrows, the gift of the bridegroom."
  William and Kathleen held frequent house parties at Beaumanor and one of them hosted in 1926 is shown in the photograph.
  Until just preceding the Second World War in 1939, the Herrick family owned the park. The estate c
caption: House party at Beaumanor in 1926
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