A Short History of Maxstoke Castle

CHAPTER 6:    THE FETHERSTON FAMILY AND PACKWOOD HOUSE (1853-1940)

The inheritance of Maxstoke by successive generations of the Dilke family had hitherto followed strictly the principle of primogeniture but, with the death of Thomas Dilke (V) who never married, the direct line came to an end.

In order to follow the succession it is necessary, therefore, to retrace the Dilke pedigree to William (IV). He had three younger brothers Thomas (IV), who had inherited Packwood from his aunt and changed his name to Fetherston. Charles (I) (1763-1832), who inherited Packwood from Thomas (IV) on the latter's death in 1814 and likewise changed his name to Fetherston in accordance with the aforementioned custom and John (I) (1764-1819).

Charles (I) married Elizabeth Dixie and had two daughters, Frances (1809-1871) and Elizabeth (1812-1891). A portrait of them with their father hangs in the Morning Room.

John (I) had a son, John (II) (1809-1876), who married his cousin, Frances. She bore him six sons and three daughters. John (III), the eldest son, inherited Packwood and retained the name of Fetherston, Charles (II), the second son (1836-1877), inherited Maxstoke and assumed, by Royal Licence, the name and arms of Fetherston-Dilke. In 1866, he married Rosamond, daughter of Sir Beaumont Dixie, Bart. of Bosworth Park, Leicestershire.

Charles (II) redecorated the Castle interior throughout in typical Victorian style in readiness for his bride. He inserted a new fireplace in the Banqueting Hall which he inscribed with the family motto (and a quotation from Proverbs 26 v.20) and plastered over the ceiling timbers which he decorated with badges and coats of arms of the Fetherstons, Dilkes and Dixies. His general scheme of decoration, though fashionable at the time, introduced an air of darkness and gloom into the house. Charles' major constructional work, was the erection of a coach house bearing his coat of arms.

Rosamond Dilke was, by all accounts, an attractive and vivacious woman, Charles, her husband, appears to have been somewhat of an introvert - certainly in later life - and in 1877 he committed suicide, having broken a leg at Ilfracombe. His widow subsequently became involved in an acrimonious divorce and libel case concerning the Aylesford and Blandford families and her brother-in-law, William (VI).

William (VI) (1837-1892) succeeded his brother Charles, who had died childless. He was the archetypal Victorian squire and landowner - he had his portrait painted depicting himself wearing a bowler hat and with a double-barrelled shotgun under his arm. A tenant related how her grandfather had been presented - as were all tenants - with a framed photograph of William with strict instructions that it was to be displayed in the house.

William served in the Warwickshire Militia, attaining the rank of Major, was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the County and a member of the first County Council of Warwickshire. In 1877, he married Fanny, daughter of John Starkey of Springwood Hall, Yorkshire, and died without issue in 1892.

The Castle then passed to a third brother, Beaumont (I) (1839-1918). He never married and seldom used Maxstoke, which he leased furnished to two successive tenants - Sir Lincoln Tangye, Bart, and the Reverend D.L.Lee-Elliot, Vicar of Maxstoke. Beaumont (I) always called himself Fetherston (he had been born at Packwood and had a great affection for the place). He followed no particular profession and lived mainly in London. He was a keen cricketer and played regularly for the Free Foresters (22). For a period, he served as Private Secretary to the Earl of Hopetoun in Australia. He travelled widely and in 1889 set off on a world tour - part business and part pleasure - which lasted until 1892. He was commissioned by the Daily Graphic to send regular dispatches to London, which helped to defray the cost of his journey. He brought back a number of articles of native origin, particularly from the East and Pacific Islands.

During his absence, some modernisation was carried out by the tenant, Sir Lincoln Tangye, who installed electric light, generated at 110 volts, D.C., by a dynamo in the stables which fed a massive battery. This installation remained in use until 1933 and much of the original wiring remained until 1968, when the Castle was rewired. It was during the tenancy that the Lodge and the Coachman's House were built at a total cost of £800. On his death in 1918, Beaumont (I) left Maxstoke to his nephew, Beaumont Percival, eldest son of his sister, Edith Fetherston who, in 1872, had married Theodore Percival of the India Office. A condition of the inheritance was that Beaumont (II) should take the name and arms of Fetherston-Dilke and this he did by Royal Licence (23) in 1918.

Beaumont (II) (1875-1968) was a doctor and, after leaving St. John's College, Cambridge to which he had obtained a scholarship, he served in London, Colchester and Northampton. Soon after the turn of the century, he joined the Colonial Medical Service and was appointed to a post in Trinidad. In 1912 he was transferred to Nigeria where he served until 1916. In March 1915, whilst returning to Nigeria after leave in England, his ship, the S.S. FALABA, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the Irish Sea (24). Beaumont was lucky to be one of the survivors.

In 1916, he was transferred to Gibraltar and, whilst serving there, was married the following year to Stella, youngest daughter of the Reverend Canon W.C.R. Bedford, Rector of Sutton Coldfield.

In 1919, Beaumont was awarded the M.B.E. for his services in Gibraltar - being one of the first to be appointed to this Order, founded by King George V.

Although he inherited Maxstoke in 1918, Beaumont did not immediately take up residence. During the closing years of the First World War and for a short period afterwards, the Castle was used by the Red Cross as a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. Beaumont (I)'s tenant, the Rev. Lee-Elliott, was still in occupation and remained there until 1923 when Beaumont and Stella moved in.

After his marriage, Beaumont continued his medical service and returned again to Nigeria, where he served until his retirement. He came back to England from time to time and Stella - who remained in England - bore him four children. Mary (1918 - ), Charles (III) (1921 - ), Catherine (Kitty) (1924 -) and Timothy (1926 - ). The last two were born at Maxstoke - the first Dilkes to be born there for over 120 years. It must have been a daunting task for Stella to take on the Castle unaided, but she quickly made the place a happy home.

Beaumont retired from the Colonial Medical Service in 1928. The previous year, whilst he was still abroad, Her Majesty Queen Mary paid a visit to Maxstoke and spent the afternoon there on 20th August, 1927. She was accompanied by the Countess of Bradford, the Marquess of Cambridge (her brother) and Lady Cambridge and Lady Joan Verney, her Lady-in-Waiting. It was a predominantly female occasion and Stella was supported by her sister, Esme, and her niece Betty Armes. After walking in the grounds, tea was served to the Queen in the Oak Drawing Room where she was seated in a William and Mark chair on a cushion later made from Stella's wedding dress. The following day, Her Majesty visited Packwood House, owned by Mr. Baron Ash.

Until the early 1930s, Maxstoke was Beaumont and Stella's home. They lived quietly, attended by a considerable staff. Beaumont was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1928 and otherwise occupied himself by getting the estate into fair order, since it had been somewhat neglected by his uncle Beaumont (I), who had rarely visited it.

In 1934, the financial state of the country and the fact that he had four children to educate led Beaumont and the family to leave Maxstoke and move to Leamington Spa. The Castle was then leased to a syndicate who turned it into a country club. They spent a great deal of money on the house and grounds but, with the threat of war and its eventual outbreak in 1939, the club went into liquidation. The Castle and out-buildings were requisitioned by the War Office as accommodation for an army unit. During their occupation there was a minor fire in the Lady Tower as a result of which there came to light the original floor of 15th century - probably Coventry - tiles which had been covered with parquet flooring some 80 years previously.