Ormeley Lodge

The house was built on the site of a former cottage in about 1715 by Thomas Hammond, son of a wealthy landowner from Teddington. At about the same time John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll began establishing the neighbouring Sudbrook Lodge and estate. Charles Townshend, second husband to Caroline, one of Campbell's four daughters, bought Ormeley Lodge in 1763 as a country retreat and they lived there until 1767, moving to Sudbrook Lodge on the death of the Dowager Duchess of Argyll.^[5][6]

A claim that the house was the honeymoon destination of George, Prince of Wales and Maria Fitzherbert on 15 December 1785, following their secret marriage, has not been substantiated.^[5][7]

Between 1814 and 1819 the house, then called Ormly Lodge, was one of the homes of Sir John Sinclair, President of the Board of Agriculture and whose fourth daughter, Catherine Sinclair, was a notable writer of children's fiction.^[5][7] In 1817 a footpath was built from the Petersham Road passing in front of the Lodge and leading to Ham Gate Lodge at the entrance to Richmond Park. Named Barnard's Footpath after its benefactor, it was known as Park Road by 1861 and was renamed Ham Gate Avenue in 1945.^[8]

Mrs Elizabeth Palmer (c.1757-1832) was the wealthy widow, reputedly worth £40,000 (equivalent to £4.98 million or US$6.19 million in 2023)^[9] a year,^[10] of Joseph Budworth (1756–1815), a writer and poet, who changed his name to Palmer in 1812. She had lived at the Lodge since the 1820s.^[11][12] On 31 May 1832 she was living as a recluse at Ormly Lodge together with Richard Sharp, a nephew of her late husband, Francis, her elderly brother, and William Bellingham, her son. She was wearing a "full muslin dress with a quantity of loose trimming about it" when she retired to bed with a candle. It was conjectured that part of her dress caught fire from the candle. The Evening Standard reported the events.^[13]

A well-attended coroner's inquest took place the following day at Ormly Lodge which concluded that her death was an accident. Over £3,300 in cash was found in a closet.^[14]

The grand funeral took place at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court, and she was buried in the family vault at St Peter's Church, West Molesey, along with her husband. A service was also held at the newly built St Andrew's Church, Ham.^[14]

Mrs Palmer's daughter, Emma Mary, who was married to William Alexander Mackinnon, failed when she contested her mother's will “on the ground that they were procured by undue influence and importunity” by Mr Sharp. Mrs Palmer left copyhold property worth £17,000 (equivalent to £2.12 million or US$2.63 million in 2023)^[9], personal property worth £200,000 (equivalent to £24.89 million or US$30.94 million in 2023)^[9] and £38,000 in Ireland. She left the bulk of her property to Mr Sharp, who as well as being her husband's nephew was also agent managing her estates in Ireland, in trust for her son and brother, who were both described as "imbecile in mind"; they both already had incomes worth £5,000 and £8,000 respectively. On their deaths the remaining residue to be held in trust by Mr Sharp for her daughter and then divided between her children. Mr Sharp received a legacy of £10,000 and £5,400 in trust for Mrs Mackinnon.^[15] Francis Palmer died in 1834^[16] and Mrs Palmer's son died in 1853; Ormley Lodge and Mole Lodge in West Molesey were sold in 1854.^[17]

In 1860 Mary Cawthorne Hunter, daughter of the late John Alexander Hunter of Ormeley Lodge, married Sir Edmund Arnaut Grattan.^[18] Capt Charles Hunter, son of John A Hunter, died at Ormeley Lodge in 1866.^[19]

Later the house was occupied by Lauchlan Mackinnon, a captain in the Royal Navy and son of W A Mackinnon, who wrote three books about his experiences. He died there in 1877. The Mackinnon family lived there until about 1891.^[20][21]

The house was bought in 1893 by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 4th Baron Sudeley and his wife, Ada, daughter of Frederick Tollemache, living there until 1922.^[22] Their youngest son Felix, who was killed in action in 1914 is commemorated on a memorial in nearby St Andrew's Church, Ham. Their second son, Algernon, died in 1915 and is buried at St Peter's Church, Petersham.^[5] Their daughter, Alice, was married at St Andrew's in 1898.^[23]

The house's link to the Earls of Dysart, to whom Townshend, Sinclair and Hanbury-Tracy had all been connected by marriage, was broken in 1949 when the Tollemache family auctioned the Ham estates. Ormeley Lodge was purchased by antique dealer Ronald Lee. Lee held a loan exhibition entitled Masterpieces of British Art and Craftsmanship in the house in 1954, which was attended by The Queen Mother.^[5][7] Later that year Lee sold the house to the Earl of Westmorland and in 1964 it was sold to Lord and Lady Howard de Walden.^[5]

Ormeley Lodge was subsequently purchased by Sir James Goldsmith in the mid-1970s,^[when?] and, with Lady Annabel Goldsmith, it became home for their family of five children, the elder three from Annabel's first marriage; Rupert, Robin and India, Jemima and Zac, and a sixth, Ben, being born after the move.^[24][25]

• Drawing of Ormeley Lodge, 1941 by Wilfred Fairclough at the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Drawing of Ormeley Lodge by Richard Cooper II at the British Museum
• Bird's eye view of the house and its grounds
• Photos of Ormeley Lodge at Ham Photos blog

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ormeley Lodge, Ham.