Valentine’s: The Lovers of Temple Newsam

National World - LocalTV

We discover the poignant tale of romance between Hugo and Emily Meynell-Ingram at Temple Newsam House.

Transcript

00:00 When it comes to love, there's lots to love about Temple Newsome.

00:06 The Tudor Jacobian mansion just east of Leeds City Centre is loved by history lovers.

00:12 The grounds are enjoyed by outdoor lovers, but what about those that have been in love

00:16 here through the centuries?

00:18 There's 500 years of history and that's not taking into account the 500 years beforehand

00:24 when the Knights Templar were here.

00:26 So there's been a lot of people that have lived here at the house, a lot of romantic

00:31 goings on.

00:32 So the one that I wanted to focus on really was one of the later owners of Temple Newsome

00:37 and it is the lady here, this is Emily Menel Ingram.

00:41 And Emily's grandfather on her father's side was actually Earl Grey, the Prime Minister.

00:46 So she came from a very important family in her own right and she was from the Whigs,

00:51 the Liberals.

00:53 Now her husband, Hugo, he was from a slightly different political family but he was the

00:58 last descendant of the gentleman that actually built Temple Newsome in the 1620s, or should

01:03 I say rebuilt in the 1620s, who was called Arthur Ingram.

01:06 And his family were Tories so they were a very politically divided couple.

01:12 Now he was about 18 years older than Emily, born in 1822.

01:19 And they met in 1860 at a party at the Duke of Devonshire in Chiswick.

01:26 While living in Leeds, the couple exchanged a series of heartfelt and passionate love

01:30 letters which still exist today.

01:32 He actually addresses her, "My dearest kitten", bit of a nickname.

01:36 "And I wondered why I was not blessed by a sight of your beautiful paw, but it's now

01:41 accounted for."

01:42 Which to some people might feel that slightly nauseating, I don't know, but clearly it meant

01:47 something to Hugo.

01:49 So they married in 1864 and they had a happy six or seven years.

01:55 And very, very sadly, following a riding accident, Hugo passed away following complications.

02:02 And Emily descended into a period of complete mourning, something akin to what Victoria

02:08 really experienced.

02:09 She never remarried and she passed away in 1904 and then left the house to her nephew,

02:16 who was Edward Wood, Lord Halifax, who was actually the Foreign Secretary during the

02:20 Second World War.

02:21 With Valentine's Day often coinciding with half term, Temple Newsome welcomes families

02:26 to share the love with crafting activities and a visit to the lovable animals on Home

02:31 Farm.

02:32 It is a wonderful place to come any time of the year, but particularly during the holidays.

02:37 So this half term, our theme is share the love or caring and sharing.

02:41 And we're going to be focusing really on how we as staff here at Temple Newsome share and

02:48 care for the collection.

02:50 And as far as Valentine's Day is concerned, then we're going to be having some specialist

02:55 tours where we're perhaps going to be focusing a little bit more on some of these narratives

02:59 and some of these stories connected with Temple Newsome House.

03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended