What people say about 'House of Sandys'
‘Martin Davis’s 'House of Sandys' chronicles the changing
fortunes of a surprisingly little-known country house, Ombersley Court in
Worcestershire, over four centuries. Mining the family archives, he gives us a
fascinating portrait of the activities of its owners and their dependants,
encompassing both grand national events and the petty, but no less absorbing,
minutiae of their daily lives.’ – Tim Knox, Director of The Royal Collection
‘This is a fascinating history of a house and its
inhabitants, showing
how it relates to both the local and the national story.’ – Dr Alan Borg, CBE, former director
of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Librarian of the Order of St John
‘Admirably researched, eminently readable and beautifully
presented’ – Christopher Bryant, military historian
‘Remarkable book. Congratulations!’ – David Campbell,
Publisher, Everyman’s Library
'An
extraordinary and hugely readable work of scholarship; the story of the Sandys
tenure at Ombersley Court over four centuries is a fascinating tale of English
cultural and political history.’ – Jonathan Chenevix-Trench of Madresfield
‘What a mighty undertaking: well done on distilling the
Sandys life in Worcestershire into a book! Our two families have been closely
linked through the 400-odd years that the Sandys were at Ombersley and it is
important that the record is kept for their contribution to Worcestershire and
their extensive connection.’ – Viscount Cobham
‘A scholarly and fascinating account’ – The Marquess of
Downshire
‘Following one family, is a great way to get into the deepest
corners of history via the lives of human beings, from Worcestershire to
Donegal, and Harrow School to Calcutta – the capital of British India – and on
to Lucknow where the Indian Mutiny had taken place – or, as Indians prefer to
call it, The First War of Indian Independence. ‘House of Sandys’ encapsulates
the power, confidence and self-belief of the British, which peaked
in those halcyon days (for some) of the Victorian era.’ – Jamila Gavin
‘What Martin has done in this volume is to open up the incredibly diverse and interesting world of the Sandys Family and show what can be achieved with local archives, given the researcher’s curiosity, skill and ability to tell a good story.’ – Dr Adrian Gregson RMARA, Worcestershire County and Worcester Diocesan Archivist‘How Jane Austen would have revelled in this spirited account
of the Sandys family through the centuries, not least the unforgettable Lady
Downshire, friend of the Prince Regent, enemy of Castlereagh, whose haughty
dismissal of her future daughter-in-law, Austen’s niece: No money, all
charms! is certainly worthy of Lady Catherine de Bourgh herself.’ – Dr Sophia
Hillen, author of ‘May, Lou & Cass, Jane Austen’s nieces in Ireland’
‘A delightful account, skilfully understating its
scholarship, of one family's long-term contributions to English public and
local life, from Queen Mary 's religious persecution via Edgehill, Waterloo and
Cambrai to the Government front bench and the Turfed Out Peers Society.’ – Lord
Hughes of Ombersley
‘Martin Davis quotes the 6th Baron Sandys as saying that
Ombersley Court is, Rather a dilapidated house, nevertheless retaining a
cachet that all the Rothschild wealth could not bestow upon it. Martin’s
work is far from dilapidated, but is as deserving of a cachet as Ombersley
Court itself: this compilation is a meticulous and detailed reconstruction of a
family history over four centuries, illustrated with fascinating photographs of
people, places and documents that give insights, not just into the Sandys family,
but into the changing times in which successive generations lived.’ – John
Inge, Bishop of Worcester
'Among the many gems in this engaging collection of archival
fragments are colourful accounts of diplomatic life in a war-ravaged Spain, and
in Paris, Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, in the years that followed the Congress of
Vienna.' – Peter Jenkins, retired diplomat
'This well-written and most interestingly illustrated book is
as relevant to an Irish readership as it is to an English: from 1836, the Lords
Sandys of Ombersley (of the second creation) were all Hills of Hillsborough,
Co. Down, the descendants in a cadet line of Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of
Downshire, and his wife, Mary, the Sandys heiress and the bearer in her own
right of a new barony of Sandys; and from the 1780s to the 1860s, the book
contains important new insights into the personalities, politics and finances
of one of Ireland's most important families, the Marquesses of Downshire.' – Dr
A.P.W. Malcomson, historian of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy
‘A fine and absorbing account of the Lords and Ladies Sandys, researched from the family archives at Ombersley Court’ – Charles Noble,
Emeritus Curator of Fine Art, Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth
‘Centuries of English life lie in the archives of the Sandys
and Hill families of Ombersley: there is county life, Anglo-Irish life in
Ireland, parliament and high society in London, military and diplomatic life
abroad. The family wrote excellent letters, memorably from the battlefields of
the Napoleonic and First World Wars. Martin Davis brings the stories together
skilfully, the background elegantly sketched, enhanced by illustrations from
the collections recently dispersed.’ – Julian Orbach, author in architectural
history
‘Martin paints a vivid portrait of an unusual English family.
The Ombersley bunch were quite odd compared to us steady Cumbrians!’ – Myles
Sandys of Graythwaite Hall
- - -
During their respective lifetimes, the 6th and 7th Baron Sandys consigned much early archive material from their family home, Ombersley Court to Worcestershire Record Office: it is available for inspection at The Hive, Worcester.
Following the 7th Baron’s death in 2013, the residual archive from The Court has also been transferred to The Hive.
For details of a set of individual publications, upon which 'House of Sandys' is based, click on the images below.