Landed families of Britain and Ireland

This site, which was short-listed for the Society of Architectural Historians (GB) Colvin Prize in 2019, presents my research into the landowning families of the British Isles and the country houses which they owned. Comments, especially in the form of corrections, additional information or new illustrations, are very welcome. Please use the Contact Form in the right hand side bar to contact me privately or the comments facility at the bottom of the page to make a public comment.

Sunday, 12 January 2025

(595) Berry of Tayfield

Berry of Tayfield

The story of this family begins with the unusually long-lived John Berry (1725-1817), whose origins seem to be rather obscure. He is said to have been born in Aberdeenshire but was in Fife by the 1760s. His first marriage was cut short by the death of his wife soon after giving birth to their first child, and when he married again, eight years later, it was to a representative of an ancient Fife family which had died out in the male line a couple of generations earlier. It is not known how he made money, but by 1787 he was possessed of sufficient means to buy some of the lands which his wife's family had enjoyed in earlier centuries at Newport-on-Tay, and to build a modest three-bay villa there, which he called Tayfield. His only son, William Berry (1774-1852), was apprenticed to Edinburgh lawyers and admitted a Writer to the Signet in 1798. A professional career probably filled William's time until his father's death, but after he came into possession of Tayfield he expanded the estate, was involved in commercial salmon fishing in the Tay, and developed theTay ferry. He also greatly enlarged Tayfield House, effectively creating the building that exists today. He did not marry until 1823, when he was nearly fifty, although he did then produce two sons and four daughters. His eldest son and successor was John Berry (1824-77), and since then the eldest son and heir of the family has been John or William, alternately, down to the present day.

John and his brother Robert were both sent to university, with Robert going to Cambridge and then the Inner Temple before returning to Glasgow, where he eventually became Professor of Roman and Scots Law. John was admitted an advocate in 1849, but inherited the Tayfield estate only three years later. His eldest son and heir, William Berry (1864-1954) was sent to Eton and Cambridge, and maintained the family legal tradition, being admitted an advocate in 1889. Like several of his predecessors, he married late, in 1906, but tragically his wife died of peritonitis soon after giving birth to their only child. This was Dr. John Berry (1907-2002), a committed ecologist and nature conservationist, who held several important positions in the field during the course of his long life, and who was also Press Censor for Scotland during the Second World War. By his wife, the Hon. Bride Fremantle, daughter of Lord Cottesloe, he produced a daughter and two sons. The elder son, William Berry (b. 1939) returned to the family's traditional legal occupations, becoming the senior partner of a firm of Edinburgh solicitors, but also playing a full part in the public life of Scotland through active involvement in the national institutions and St Andrews' University. Dr Berry made over Tayfield to him in 1989 and moved into a house in the grounds, and in 2018 he built a new house in the grounds for his wife and himself, and made over Tayfield itself to his elder son, John Berry (b. 1976), who is an investment manager with an Edinburgh financial services firm.

Tayfield House, Newport, Fife

Tayfield House: north front, largely of 1788-90. Image: © RCAHMS

The house began as a modest harled three bay villa of two storeys over a high basement, built in 1788-90 for John Berry (1725-1817), who had bought the estate in 1787. It was apparently designed by Robert Anderson, for drawings and specifications for the house are accompanied by a note entitled 'Explanation of the Plan by Robt. Anderson'. The character of the building is now evident only on the north side, where two curved bows survive. These originally had Venetian windows on the piano nobile, only one of which still exists in its original form. The new house was taxed on fourteen windows in 1791 and 1798.

William Berry inherited the estate in 1817 and in 1829-30 he brought in George Smith, then just establishing himself as an architect in Edinburgh, to double the depth of the house to the south, and to unify the sides behind a neo-Elizabethan veneer. The north front seems to have been largely exempted from the makeover, but the tops of the bows were decorated with fanciful gablets and a corbelled gable was inserted between them.

Tayfield House: view from the north-east. Image: Newport History Group. Some rights reserved.

The asymmetrical new south front is entirely Smith's work, and has a narrow gabled projecting bay faced in stone which contains the Tudor-arched front door under an oriel. Rather cleverly, the contrast with the harled walls, combined with the slight projection and the extra height of the gable means this has the same compositional impact as a projecting porch. To the left of this bay is a chimney stack corbelled out at roof level, and to the right a similarly corbelled gablet. On the west front, Smith provided gables and bay windows for both his addition and the older part of the house; the east front has another bay window on the new work but only a corbelled gablet on the older part.

Tayfield House: south-facing entrance front. Image: © RCAHMS

The interior of the house was almost entirely remodelled by Smith. A straight flight of stairs from the front door leads to the hall on the piano nobile, where the walls are decorated with plaster casts of the 16th century oak bosses carved with portraits in the King's Presence Chamber at Stirling Castle, and there are further plaster heads from the same source in the oak-grained library to the right of the hall. In the billiard room (which had been the 18th century drawing room and has more recently been a bedroom) is a large white marble chimneypiece of 1830. Smith's plain dining room, with a black marble chimneypiece, is in the south-west corner of the house. What had been the 18th century dining room, in the north-west corner, became the drawing room in 1830, when a second bay window was added on its west side, and it was given contemporary plasterwork with a deep frieze and a white marble chimneypiece.

Tayfield House: the grounds as shown on the 1st edition 6" Ordnance Survey map of 1854.

The grounds show evidence of early 19th century landscaping, although it is apparent that some of the planting and decorative features shown on the earliest Ordnance Survey plan of 1854 have been lost over the years, and a small part of the estate east of the policies was lost for the building of the A92 approach road to the Tay road bridge. Happily, the estate's two lodges survive: the South Lodge, probably by Smith, c.1830, with a broad canted front projection and stone canopies over the windows, and the pretty North Lodge by James Gillespie Graham, 1821, with broad eaves, a semi-octagonal end and lattice glazing.

Descent: built for John Berry (1725-1817); to son, William Berry (1774-1852); to son, John Berry (1824-77); to son, William Berry (1864-1954); to son, Dr. John Berry (1907-2002); to son, William Berry (b. 1939); to son, John Berry (b. 1976).

Berry family of Tayfield

Berry, John (1725-1817). Only son of William Berry (b. 1698) of Claymire, Alford (Aberdeens.), born 17 January 1725. He married 1st, 17 January 1761, Janet Fraser (1731-62), and 2nd, 1770, Isabella (1739-1807), daughter of Maj. Mungo Law of Pittillock (Fife), and granddaughter and representative of Magdalene Nairne, last of Sandfurd, and had issue:

(1.1) Elizabeth Berry (b. 1762), baptised at Leslie (Fife), 30 April 1762; married her cousin, Capt. John Smith of Forfar & Kincardine militia, and had issue at least one son and two daughters, who all died unmarried;
(2.1) Isabella Berry (1772-1838), born 7 May 1772; married, 11 December 1791 at Kirkcaldy (Fife), James Heggie of Pitlessie (Fife), and had issue one daughter; said to have died 25 March 1838;
(2.2) William Berry (1774-1852) (q.v.);
(2.3) Margaret Berry (1776-80?), born 17 May 1776; died young and was possibly the person of this name buried at Cupar (Fife), 17 March 1780;
(2.4) Agnes Berry (b. 1778), born 17 July 1778;
(2.5) John (f.) Berry (b. 1779), born 3 December and baptised 21 December 1779; married, 7 March 1806 at Forgan, Archibald Torry (b. 1778) of Edinburgh, cloth merchant, and had issue four sons and two daughters;
(2.6) Margaret Berry (1781-1864), born 17 September and baptised 24 September 1781; died unmarried, 15 April 1864 and was buried at Forgan with her parents;
(2.7) Sarah Craufurd Berry (1782-1880), born 18 October and baptised 30 October 1782; died unmarried and 97 on 9 April 1880, and was buried at Forgan with her parents.

In 1787 he purchased the lands of Tayfield, Wester Bogie, Prinlaws, Kinnaird and Innerdovat (Fife), some of which had belonged to his second wife's Nairne ancestors, and he built Tayfield House in 1788-90.

He died aged 92 on 14 October 1817. His first wife died 13 June 1762 and was buried in the Old Kirkyard at Leslie (Fife). His second wife died 11 June 1807.

Berry, William (1774-1852). Only son of John Berry (1725-1817) and his second wife, Isabella, daughter of Maj. Mungo Law of Pittillock (Fife), born 23 March and baptised at Abbotshall (Fife), 26 March 1774. Apprenticed to Laurence Hill WS and Harry Davidson WS, and subsequently admitted Writer to the Signet, 16 January 1798. He was chiefly responsible for the development of the Tay ferry at Newport-on-Tay, and was also a partner in a firm renting salmon fishing in the river Tay (Berry & Ball) which became bankrupt in 1824; he remained engaged in moves to improve the economics of salmon fishing for the rest of his life. He married, 20 September 1823, Isabella (1791-1877), daughter of Sir Robert Bruce-Henderson (1762-1833), 6th bt., of Fordell and Earslhall (Fife), and had issue:

(1) John Berry (1824-77) (q.v.);
(2) Robert Berry (1825-1903), born 18 November 1825; educated at Edinburgh Academy, Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1844; BA 1848; MA 1850), Glasgow University (MA 1851; LLD) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1847; called 1853); barrister-at-law; admitted an advocate in Scotland, 1 December 1863; Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1850-58; Professor of Roman and Scots Law at Glasgow University, 1867-87; Secretary to the Royal Commissions on the Scottish Universities, 1858-63, 1876-78; Sheriff Principal of Lanarkshire, 1886-1903; DL for City of Glasgow; married, 17 August 1864, Mary (d. 1917), daughter of John Miller WS of Stewartfield (Roxburghs.), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 17 January 1903; will confirmed, 6 April 1903 (estate £117,277);
(3) Isabella Wilhelmina Berry (1827-1905), born 22 June 1827; married, 7 July 1852 at Forgan (Fife), John Purvis (c.1820-1909) of Kinaldy (Fife) and had issue; died 15 October 1905 and was buried at Dunino (Fife);
(4) Margaret Georgina Berry (1828-1906), born 26 June 1828; lived at Abercraig, Newport-on-Tay; died unmarried, 17 December 1906; will confirmed 3 May 1907 (estate £7,349);
(5) Frances Berry (1829-1900), born 25 December 1829; married, 17 January 1854 at St Cuthbert, Edinburgh, John Kirk WS (1820-89), director of HM Chancery for Scotland, 1873-89, and had issue at least six sons and two daughters; died 13 February 1900; will confirmed 20 October 1900 (estate £709);
(6) Sarah Berry (1832-78), born 14 February 1832; married, 19 April 1858 in Edinburgh, William Mudie Paton (1824-98) of Dundee, and had issue four sons and two daughters; died 23 March 1878.

He inherited the Tayfield estate from his father in 1817 and remodelled the house in 1829-30.

He died 9 December 1852. His widow died 27 January 1877.

Berry, John (1824-77). Elder son of William Berry (1774-1852) and his wife Isabella, daughter of Sir Robert Bruce-Henderson, bt., of Fordell and Earslhall (Fife), born 7 November 1824. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities. Admitted an advocate, 14 July 1849. He married, 15 November 1858, Margaret Higgins (c.1831-1915), third daughter of John Burn-Murdoch of Neuck and Coldoch (Stirlings.), and had issue:

(1) Annie Maule Berry (1859-1956), born 6 October 1859; died unmarried aged 96 on 29 July 1956;
(2) Isabella Sybil Berry (1861-1939), born 8 July 1861; died unmarried, 4 February 1939;
(3) William Berry (1864-1954) (q.v.);
(4) John James Archibald Berry (1865-66), born 29 August 1865; died in infancy, 4 November 1866;
(5) Robert Alexander John Berry (1868-1960), born 22 April 1868; educated at Eton; JP for Fife; civil engineer with Madras and South Mahratta Railway, 1896-1913; served in First World War with Northumberland Fusiliers, 1914-18 (wounded 1916); lived at Chesterhill, Newport-on-Tay; married, 3 March 1902 at All Souls, Langham Place, Marylebone (Middx), Dorothy (1878-1952), daughter of Arthur Bryans of Woodmansterne (Surrey), tea broker; died aged 91 on 27 February 1960;
(6) Arthur Alexander Nairne Berry (1870-71), born 22 June 1870; died in infancy, 12 June 1871.

He inherited Tayfield House from his father in 1852.

He died 17 December 1877; his will was confirmed, 24 April 1878 (estate, £20,622). His widow died 8 August 1915; her will was confirmed, 12 October 1915 (estate £3,730).

Berry, William (1864-1954). Eldest son of John Berry (1824-77) and his wife Margaret Higgins, third daughter of John Burn-Murdoch of Neuck and Coldoch (Stirlings.), born 9 May 1864. Educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1883; BA and LLB 1886) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1885). Admitted an advocate, 18 July 1889. JP and DL for Fife. Chairman of Fife War Pensions Committee, 1916-49; Chairman of Joint Disablement Committee for Central Scotland, 1917-23. Appointed OBE, 1920. He married, 24 July 1906, Wilhelmina (1880-1907), third daughter of Allan Graham Barns-Graham of Lymekilns and Craigallian, and had issue:

(1) John Berry (1907-2002) (q.v.).

He inherited Tayfield House from his father in 1877.

He died aged 89 on 18 April 1954 and was buried at Forgan (Fife). His wife died of peritonitis, 28 August 1907, and was also buried at Forgan, where they are commemorated by a headstone.

Berry, John (1907-2002). Only child of William Berry (1864-1954) and his wife Wilhelmina, third daughter of Allan Graham Barns-Graham of Lymekilns and Craigallian, born 5 August 1907. Despite suffering from dyslexia, he was educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1929; MA 1931); and St Andrews University (PhD, 1935). A lifelong passionate nature conservationist, he was Director of the Salmon Fishery Board for Scotland, 1937-39 (Researcher, 1931-37); Senior Press Censor for Scotland, 1940-44; Biologist and Information Officer, North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, 1944-49; Director of the Nature Conservancy for Scotland, 1949-67; Conservation and Fisheries Adviser, South of Scotland Electricity Board 1973-89; Vice-President of Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, 1959-2002; DL for Fife (from 1969); appointed CBE, 1968. Author of The Status and Distribution of Wild Geese and Wild Duck in Scotland (1939). He received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Dundee (LLD, 1970) and St. Andrews (DSc, 1991), and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1936. He married, 20 August 1936, Hon. Bride Faith Louisa (1910-2003), second daughter of Thomas Francis Fremantle (1862-1956), 3rd Baron Cottesloe, and had issue:

(1) Margaret Wilhelmina Berry (b. 1937), born 23 August 1937; married, 4 April 1962, Ronald Lindsay Alexander ARIBA, architect, second son of George Alexander of Edinburgh, and had issue one son and one daughter; living in 2018;
(2) William Berry (b. 1939) (q.v.);
(3) Peter Fremantle Berry (b. 1944), born 17 May 1944; educated at Eton and Lincoln College, Oxford (BA 1966; MA); with Harrisons and Crosfield plc, 1966-73; the Anglo-Indonesian Corporation plc, 1973-82 and Crown Agents Ltd from 1982-2007 (managing director, 1988 and later Chairman); director and later chairman of Thomas Tapling & Co., 1987-date; Kier Group plc, 1997-2007; Martin Currie Portfolio Investment Trust plc, 1999 (chairman, 2000); a trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation; appointed CMG, 1998 and received Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, 2008; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; married, 26 February 1972, Paola, daughter of Giovanni Padovani, and had issue one son and two daughters; now living.

He inherited Tayfield House from his father in 1954, and made it over to his son in 1989.

He died in 2002. His widow died in 2003.

Berry, William (b. 1939). Elder son of Dr. John Berry (1907-2002) and his wife, the Hon. Bride Faith Louisa, second daughter of Thomas Francis Fremantle, 3rd Baron Cottesloe, born 26 September 1939. Educated at Eton, St. Andrews University (MA 1961) and Edinburgh University (LLB 1963). Solicitor and Writer to the Signet since 1965. Senior partner of Murray Beith Murray LLP (retired 2000), notary public, and director of several financial services companies. Depute Chairman of Edinburgh Festival Society, 1985-89; board member of Royal Botanic Garden (Edinburgh) and Museum of Scotland and many local charities; Senior Governor, 2002-07, and later Chancellor's Assessor, 2004-10, of St. Andrews University. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He married, 15 December 1973, Elizabeth Margery, only daughter of Sir Edward Redston Warner KCMG OBE of Blockley (Glos), and had issue:

(1) John Berry (b. 1976), born 22 February 1976; educated at Edinburgh University (MA) and Oxford Brookes University (MSc); investment manager with Baillie Gifford, Edinburgh; married, by 2007, Dr. Megan Louise Bastick (b. 1975), a lawyer working with security institutions to promote gender equality, and had issue two sons;
(2) Robert Edward Alexander Berry (b. 1978), born 15 July 1978; educated at Bristol University (BA 2001); married, by 2009, Catriona Campbell and had issue one son and one daughter.

He took over the Tayfield House estate from his father in 1989 and undertook a major restoration before moving into it in 1991. In 2018 he built a new house in the grounds of Tayfield House to which he moved on handing the estate over to his son John.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, pp. 167-69; Burke's Landed Gentry of Scotland, 2001, pp. 64-66; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 919-20; J. Gifford, The buildings of Scotland: Fife, 1988, pp. 337-38;

https://www.newportontayhistory.org.uk/people/tayfield-estate-1-the-estate-the-house-the-family

Location of archives

Berry of Tayfield: deeds and estate papers, 18th-19th cents [University of St Andrews Special Collections, msdep133]; legal papers of William Berry, 1785-1842 [University of St Andrews, Special Collections, msDA817.B4]. Additional deeds, estate and legal papers, personal correspondence, diaries and accounts remain in private custody [Enquiries to National Register of Archives for Scotland].

Coat of arms

Quarterly, 1st and 4th, vert a cross-crosslet argent (for Berry); 2nd and 3rd, per pale argent and sable, on a chaplet four mullets counter-changed (for Nairne).

Can you help?

Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
If anyone can offer further or more precise information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 12 January 2025.

Monday, 6 January 2025

(594) Berry of Hackwood Park and Oving House, Viscounts Camrose, and Berry, Viscounts Kemsley

Barry, Viscounts Kemsley

Berry, Viscounts Camrose

The story of this family begins with John Mathias Berry (1847-1917), an only child of working class parents in west Wales, who through his engaging personality and hard work rose from a lowly position with the Great Western Railway to being a successful and prosperous auctioneer and estate agent in Merthyr Tydfil (Glam.). He was also a local Liberal politician, serving as mayor of Merthyr in 1911-12. He and his wife produced a daughter, and three astonishingly successful sons, all of whom became peers and country house owners, although in some cases the association with particular properties was fairly brief. The eldest son, Henry Seymour Berry (1877-1928) went into his father's business and for some twenty years achieved nothing very remarkable, but in 1915 he was taken up as a protégé by David Alfred Thomas (1856-1918), later 1st Viscount Rhondda, formerly the MP for Merthyr, who had extensive industrial and coal mining interests in the Welsh valleys. Lord Rhondda appointed Berry as his agent and brought him onto to the boards of various companies with which he was associated, and after Rhondda joined the government as Minister of Food Control in 1917 Berry took over greater responsibilities for Rhondda's interests and in some cases the chairmanship of the firms.

Buckland, Bwlch (Brecons.), seat of Henry Seymour Berry, 1922-28

Over the next ten years, Berry ably continued Rhondda's programme of consolidation in the coal industry, and rapidly accumulated serious wealth. In 1922, at the age of forty-five, he bought the late Victorian seat of Buckland Hall at Bwlch (Brecons.), which lay north of Merthyr overlooking a picturesque stretch of the River Usk, and in 1926 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Buckland of Bwlch. Sadly, in 1928, his enjoyment of the Buckland estate was cut short when he was killed in an accident while taking his regular early-morning ride around the property. His widow moved to Bath, Buckland was sold, and his assets of more than £1,000,000 were divided between his widow and five daughters.

J.M. Berry's second son was (William) Ewart Berry (1879-1954). He left school at fourteen and had a series of roles with local newspapers before, in 1901, he borrowed £100 from his elder brother and founded a magazine called Advertising World, which he made a commercial success, working in partnership with his younger brother, (James) Gomer Berry (1883-1968). He sold it in 1905 at a considerable profit, and went on to launch further magazines, but the partnership with Gomer stayed in place, the two men understanding that they complemented one another, although Ewart had far more foresight and financial acumen. In 1915 they moved into newspaper publishing, buying the failing Sunday Times and transforming it into a successful paper, and this was followed by the acquisition of The Financial Times (1919) and The Daily Telegraph (1927) as well as many provincial newspapers and other publishing ventures. In 1937 the two brothers divided their holdings into separate fiefdoms, so as to facilitate the transmission of the empire to the next generation.

Dropmore House: aerial view, 1948.
Image: Historic England/Britain from Above EAW 0220616.

By then, both men were peers, Ewart Berry having been created Baron Camrose (taking his title from the village in Pembrokeshire where his father was born) in 1929, and Gomer Berry having been created Baron Kemsley in 1936. Lord Camrose had also purchased Hackwood Park (Hampshire), a splendid Georgian seat with a well-preserved early landscaped garden, which his descendants retained until its sale in 1998. Lord Kemsley was accommodated in considerable splendour at Chandos House in Marylebone from 1927, and this remained his principal residence until he retired in 1959. He had, however, acquired Dropmore House (Bucks) in 1943, and he moved there after Chandos House was sold, but Dropmore was sold after his death in 1968.

Lord Camrose, who was promoted to a viscountcy in 1941, had four sons and four daughters. He was succeeded in his newspaper interests largely by the elder two sons, John Seymour Berry (1909-95), 2nd Viscount Camrose, who also inherited Hackwood, and the Hon. William Michael Berry (1911-2001), who was the more dynamic of the two and more actively involved in an editorial capacity. He bought Oving House (Bucks) in about 1952, and remodelled it with the assistance of Felix Harbord, c.1954-58. In 1968 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Hartwell (a life peerage, as new hereditary titles had then effectively ceased to be granted outside the royal family), and when in 1995 he also inherited the Camrose viscountcy from his brother, he disclaimed it for life, preferring to be known as Lord Hartwell. His elder son, Adrian Michael Berry (1937-2016), who had been the science correspondent of the Daily Telegraph for many years, felt no need to disclaim the title and became the 4th Viscount on his father's death in 2001. The peerage is now held by his son, Jonathan Berry (b. 1970), 5th Viscount Camrose. The ownership of Oving House did not, however, follow the peerage, for on Lord Hartwell's death in 2001 it passed to his elder daughter, Mrs. Harriet Cullen, who is noted for her literary activities.

Brockenhurst Park, built in 1960 for D.G. Berry

Thorpe Lubenham Hall

Lord Kemsley, who was promoted to a viscountcy in 1945, had six sons and one daughter. He was succeeded by his eldest son, (Geoffrey) Lionel Berry (1909-99), 2nd Viscount Kemsley, who purchased Thorpe Lubenham Hall (Leics) in 1962, and moved to Field House, Thorpe Lubenham, about twenty-five years later, which his widow retained until her death in 2011. The 2nd Viscount had four daughters but no sons, so on his death the peerage passed to the only son of his brother, the Hon. Denis Gomer Berry (1911-83). Denis Gomer Berry had bought Brockenhurst Park (Hants) in 1958, demolished it, and built a much smaller new house there to the designs of Harry Graham in 1960*. This is a squat modernist pavilion built of depressing grey-brown brick on a butterfly plan, which is somewhat redeemed by its setting in the formal garden of the previous house. Richard Gomer Berry (b. 1951), the 3rd Viscount Kemsley, and his siblings sold it in 1991 but he still lives in the area.

* An account of Brockenhurst Park is reserved for a future post on the Morant family.

Hackwood Park, Hampshire

Hackwood is one of the great mansions of Hampshire, created as a ducal seat between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. The property began as a hunting park attached to Basing House, with a lodge used as an occasional residence, which is known to have had a large hall and a chapel. Basing House was destroyed following a Civil War siege and the estate was confiscated by the Commonwealth authorities, but restored to the 5th Marquess of Winchester in 1662. He, however, preferred to live at Englefield House (Berks), and the Basing estate was neglected until it was inherited in 1675 by his estranged eldest son, Charles Paulet, 6th Marquess of Winchester and later 1st Duke of Bolton. He built the core of the present house at Hackwood in 1683-88. Like its predecessor, the house was described as a hunting seat, but it was from the first a much more substantial building than that suggests. The duke was also building at Bolton Hall in Yorkshire, and at Abbotstone (Hants), where another hunting seat on the site of a former family house was never finished. Illustrations and plans show the 1st Duke's Hackwood was a plain hipped-roofed single-pile house of thirteen bays with wings at right-angles, joined to the main block by quadrant colonnades, with three-bay pedimented centres on the north and south fronts. John Harris has made a convincing stylistic argument for it being one of the first realised works of William Talman, but there seems to be no documentary evidence for its authorship.

Hackwood Park: detail of a plan of the grounds c.1730, showing the original form of the north front with its projecting wings.

The 3rd Duke of Bolton inherited Hackwood in 1724 and set about creating a formally landscaped setting for the house. He was advised by the 1st Earl Bathurst (who had already created much admired grounds at Richings Park (Bucks) and was working on a much larger scale at Cirencester Park (Glos) in the 1720s), though the extent of his contribution at Hackwood is unclear. The actual designs seem to have been created by Charles Bridgeman, some of whose drawings for the site survive in the Bodleian Library. The grounds were thickly scattered with temples and other decorative buildings. Many - perhaps all - of these were designed by James Gibbs, as he records he had 'built a great many Temples and Ornamental Buildings for the Duke of Bolton at Hackwood' and three of them were illustrated in his Book of Architecture (1728). It would seem Gibbs subsequently went on to work on the house, for in 1740 Vertue noted 'a new stone portico next the Gardens, design'd by Mr Gibbs'. Next on the scene was John Vardy, c.1761-63, who remodelled the south front for the 5th Duke of Bolton, and added single-storey east and west wings with pyramidal roofs.

Hackwood Park: north (entrance) front as rebuilt by Samuel and Lewis Wyatt, photographed in 1903. Image: Country Life.

Finally, Samuel Wyatt was brought in by the 1st Baron Bolton after 1805. He gave the house its present appearance by doubling the depth of the main block on its north side and designing a new two-storey elevation of nine bays, the outer pair set back, with a fine tetrastyle Ionic portico and a pediment. The capitals and the coat of arms in the pediment are of artificial stone and were modelled by Francis Bernasconi. The addition necessitated the reconstruction of the curved links to the wings, which were also raised to two storeys. In the middle of the quadrant links are porches with Tuscan columns in antis. The wings themselves are of five bays and terminate in flat-roofed projections with an elevation of triumphal arch form, which were added by Wyatt. Both Wyatt and his client died in 1807, but the remodelling continued for the 2nd Baron under Samuel's nephew, Lewis Wyatt (1777-1853). He is responsible for the present appearance of the house as he added the unifying coat of stucco.

Hackwood Park: the north front today, showing Wyatt's additions to the projecting wings.

On the south front, the centre block represents the late 17th century house, as altered first by Vardy and then by the Wyatts. It is of nine bays, with a barely detached giant tetrastyle Ionic portico. There is no pediment, but an attic with panelled dies topped by urns (added or restored in the 20th century). The end bays have tripartite windows.

Hackwood Park: the south front in 1903. Image: Country Life.

Hackwood Park: the south and part of the east fronts in 1903. Image: Country Life.

The wings were added by Vardy, but Lewis Wyatt remodelled them, removing their attics and canted bays and giving them shallow hipped roofs and tripartite ground-floor windows under blank segmental arches. The east wing contains the former ballroom, whose principal elevation faces east and is of five bays articulated by an Ionic order of pilasters, and, in the three-bay pedimented centre, columns in antis, while the outer bays have niches. The corresponding west wing is continued by a glazed Doric loggia of 1936 (on the site of an early 19th century conservatory) by Francis Lorne of Burnet, Tait & Lorne, built for Lord Camrose after he acquired the house in 1935.

Hackwood Park: the south front today.

The interior of the house is predominantly late 17th century in effect, but this is a result of the careful curation of original decorative elements from the 17th century house, reused material from the family's other Hampshire seat at Abbotstone (demolished in 1762), and and 17th century revival decoration created by Lewis Wyatt and his team of craftsmen. The stylistic impact was stronger before much fine late 17th century woodcarving, in the style of Grinling Gibbons, was removed to Bolton Hall (Yorks WR) when the Powlett family sold the estate in 1935.

Hackwood Park: entrance hall in 2018.

The entrance hall is one of the earliest Caroline Revival interiors in the country, with bolection-moulded oak panelling and a plaster frieze of 1808, grained to match. The fireplaces in the end walls have marble bolection-moulded surrounds, probably of the late 17th century, with crested keystones added by Westmacott in the early 19th century. The four excellent carved drops representing the Seasons, which flank the chimneypieces, were made by Edward Wyatt in 1815. The wide doorway in the south wall of the hall leads into the saloon, which was the hall of the late 17th century house and which was two storeys high until Vardy inserted a dividing floor in c.1760 to create new first-floor rooms, and introduced panelling from Abbotstone. The pair of bolection-moulded chimneypieces were introduced in 1968.

Hackwood Park: the South Library before 1997.

To the east of the saloon is the South Library (the 18th century drawing room), the richest of Wyatt's Caroline rooms, with an elaborate high relief plaster ceiling and a ducal coronet in a narrow carved wooden panel above the fireplace. The drops and swags around the overmantel which can be seen in earlier photographs have gone. A screen of green marble Corinthian columns separates the room from the North Library (once the billiard room), which also has a plaster ceiling in the Wren manner.

Hackwood Park: dining room in 1998.

To the west of the saloon lies the Small Drawing Room, with a white marble chimneypiece by Richard Wyatt, 1819. The most radical Wyatt alteration to the existing house was the gutting of Vardy's single-storey east and west wings flanking the south front. In the east wing, the former ducal suite was replaced by an apsidal ballroom, later known as the Tapestry Room, and in the west wing a drawing room and servants' hall were merged to form a T-shaped dining room. The stem of the T has a neo-classical shallow barrel-vaulted plaster ceiling, made by a Mr Coffee in 1811-12. At the west end, it is domed over a shallow apse, and at the east end there is an Ionic screen. The main staircase, west of the hall, is the only interior by Samuel Wyatt, but the cantilevered stone stair, with its delicate wrought-iron balustrade, was designed by Lewis Wyatt. The secondary stair, east of the library, was inserted by Vardy, but the twisted balusters must be reused late 17th century fabric.

The park was first enclosed in 1226, and progressively expanded over several centuries until it stretched as far east as Tunworth. Incremental expansion continued to take place into the 19th century, when the old line of the Basingstoke-Alton turnpike was taken into the park. A lake was planned north-east of the house in the early 19th century, but remained unfinished, although a bridge of stuccoed brick, probably designed by Lewis Wyatt, was built to span its intended course.

Hackwood Park: watercolour of the park by Paul Sandby, 1775.
Image: © The Trustees of the British Museum. Some rights reserved.

Hackwood Park: the central area of the park from the Ordnance Survey 6" map, 1894 [not to scale]

In the north forecourt stands a lead equestrian statue, cast in 1722 by John Nost II, of King George I in Roman dress. It is one of a number of casts of this design which are known to survive (another is at Stowe), and it stands on a substantial stone pedestal, made in 1725. It stood originally in a prominent position in the formal gardens south of the house, but had been moved to the north side by the 1770s. Enclosing the forecourt is a wrought-iron clairvoie, apparently 18th or early 19th century in origin, but altered in 1910 by Lord Curzon, who was the tenant here, and moved it further from the house. About a quarter of a mile north of the house is a large oval stone basin which is another survivor of the formal landscaping on this side of the house. The stables, west of the basin, were built in 1818-19 by Lewis Wyatt and replaced earlier buildings by Vardy. They are of two storeys, stuccoed, with a pyramidal central pavilion and, on the far side of the courtyard, include a brick riding school with octagonal pavilions at either end.

Hackwood Park: stable block by Lewis Wyatt, 1818-19.

The most important survival of the formal gardens is Spring Wood, an area of designed landscape of about eighty acres to the east of the house, created from an existing area of natural woodland and now in separate ownership from the house.

Hackwood Park: design for Spring Wood attributed to Charles Bridgeman, c.1727 (confusingly, north is at the bottom).
Image: Bodleian Library, Gough drawings a.4 fol. 34.

Hackwood Park: design by James Gibbs for the rotunda in Spring Wood.
Image: V&A Museum E.3617-1913.

The kite-shaped design was laid out for the 3rd Duke of Bolton in the 1720s, and the design is attributed to Charles Bridgeman. It was populated with buildings designed by James Gibbs (three of which were illustrated in his Book of Architecture of 1728). The formal design, in the manner of Le Nôtre, consists of a series of allées radiating from a central rond-point, the principal axis being the Broad Walk (running east-west), which was aligned with the narrow east front of the house. At right angles to it is the Twelve O'Clock Walk. A raised terrace ran around the periphery of the garden, with circular bastions at the north and south angles. Inside the wall, three canals (only one of which partly survives today) followed the canted western edge of the wood, with a broader basin where the central one crossed the Broad Walk. Within the segments between the allées were various garden features, connected by further straight rides and by sinuous paths cut through the woodland. North-east is the Ampthitheatre, on the axis of the north-east corner bastion. A series of grass terraces survive here, and at the south-west end, eight stone columns, the remains of Gibbs' Rotunda.

Hackwood Park: the ruins of Gibbs' rotunda, photographed in 1903. Image: Country Life.

Hackwood Park: the menagerie designed by James Gibbs. Image: Richard Croft. Some rights reserved.

South-west of the centre Gibbs' Menagerie Pavilion of 1727 survives. It is stuccoed and has a three-bay Doric portico with unfluted columns in antis and a pediment. It formerly had rear wings where the animals were housed. The pavilion and the rectangular pond it faces were part of a complex parterre garden on the axis of the south-west allée. The Cubs, small pedimented wooden pavilions with seats, may also be by Gibbs. They are double-sided, with paired pilasters flanking a round arch on each side. Further north is the Teahouse, another stuccoed temple-like pavilion, which may be of later date. In one of the south-east segments of Spring Wood was a pavilion of Greek Cross plan with an octagonal dome, later known as the French House, which was illustrated in Gibbs' Book of Architecture.

Hackwood Park: designs for the French House by James Gibbs, from his Book of Architecture (1728).

Features introduced into the gardens in the 20th century include a statue of Ceres, at the centre of the radiating walks, the domed circular Temple of 1980 in the pool at the east end of the Broad Walk (based on a design by Vardy), and a Chinese Pavilion. A pair of iron gates at the west end of the Broad Walk were moved to this position from Lewis Wyatt's London Lodge (a Greek Doric screen of c.1819-20) when it was sundered from the estate by the construction of the M3 motorway.

Descent: built for Charles Paulet (d. 1699), 6th Marquess of Winchester and later 1st Duke of Bolton; to son, Charles Paulet (d. 1724), 2nd Duke of Bolton; to son, Charles Paulet (d. 1754), 3rd Duke of Bolton; to brother, Harry Paulet (d. 1759), 4th Duke of Bolton; to son, Charles Paulet (d. 1765), 5th Duke of Bolton; to brother, Harry Paulet (d. 1794), 6th Duke of Bolton; to Jean, the illegitimate daughter of the 5th Duke and wife of Thomas Orde (later Orde-Powlett) (d. 1807), 1st Baron Bolton; to son, William Orde-Powlett (d. 1850), 2nd Baron Bolton; to nephew, William Orde-Powlett (d. 1895), 3rd Baron Bolton; to son, William Orde-Powlett (d. 1922), 4th Baron Bolton; to son, William George Algar Orde-Powlett (1869-1944), 5th Baron Bolton, who sold 1935 to Sir William Ewart Berry (1879-1954), later 1st Viscount Camrose; to son, John Seymour Berry (1909-95), 2nd Viscount Camrose; to widow, Joan (d. 1997), after whose death it was sold 1998...

Oving House, Buckinghamshire

The estate originated as a part of a one-seventh share of one of the two manors in the parish belonging to Medmenham Abbey, although 15th and 16th century owners gradually expanded this kernel. In the early 17th century a new house was built, presumably for Arthur Claver (d. 1624) or his son Marmaduke. This is now only evident on the north-facing entrance front, which is of stone and has gables and shallow projecting wings two bays wide; and in the general arrangement by which this facade faces a gravelled forecourt with the stables at one end. A high stone wall separates the forecourt from the public road.

Oving House: the 17th century north front, 1954
Image: P.S. Spokes/Historic England

In 1735 the estate descended to Parnell (d. 1741), the wife of Charles Pilsworth MP (d. 1749), who extensively remodelled the house in 1740-43. It has been suggested that his architect was William Smith the younger of Warwick, which is plausible on stylistic grounds although the fact that Smith was working in the 1740s for Sir Thomas Cave - the brother of Pilsworth's second wife - at Stanford Hall (Leics) in the 1740s is probably irrelevant, as Pilsworth did not marry Elizabeth Cave until 1744, when work on the alterations at Oving was complete. From this time date some alterations to the entrance front, including the introduction of sash windows, the parapet added to the centre and inner faces of the wings, and the central doorway with Roman Doric columns. At the same time, the house was enlarged to the south and given a handsome new brick (formerly stuccoed) garden front with a pedimented three-bay centre and to either side a Venetian window with a Diocletian window over it. Behind the centre of the south front is a fine saloon which, although altered later, preserves a contemporary ceiling, derived from a design by Jean Berain which is now in Louvre Museum, Paris, and perhaps executed by Thomas Roberts of Oxford. Further changes were made by Richard Hopkins (1728-99), who lived here from 1756, and who added the plain two storey wings to either side of the garden front; four bays to the left and three to the right.

Oving House: the south front in 1954. Image: P.S. Spokes/Historic England

The present striking interior of the house is very largely due to the neo-Georgian plasterwork and decoration done by Felix Harbord (1906-81) for Michael Berry in 1954-58. The best existing features were kept and supplemented with new work in the same style, and the result is almost completely convincing as an authentic Georgian interior. While the saloon ceiling is original work, the trophies on the walls are by Harbord, and derive from those designed by Sir Robert Taylor at Harleyford Manor. The Palladian chimneypiece was made up by him from original parts and he also did the landscape panels. The hall, library, and dining room all have plasterwork designed by Harbord; that in the hall was inspired by the mid 18th century decoration at Farnborough Hall and incorporates two statues by Coade, 1795 and an original profiled head of Mrs Pilsworth, moved from an upstairs room. The small drawing room, next to the saloon, has an overmantel picture by Rex Whistler showing the Boycott Pavilions at Stowe in the background of a portrait of Lady Pamela Berry. The staircase, with three slim turned balusters per tread and carved tread-ends is also 18th century, as is the dining room chimneypiece, but the apse in the dining room was created by Harbord, with reliefs of carved wood, said to come from Cassiobury (Herts). One of the bedrooms is treated as a print room.

To the east of the house is a mid 18th century stable block with a pretty cupola. The gardens were laid out by Jim Russell in 1955-57 but much altered c.2005 by Lady Mary Keen, who introduced a charming garden of box planted in spirals in front of the garden side of the house, interspersed with much statuary gathered from around the gardens and a wild flower meadow beyond. The swimming pool pavilion was designed by Felix Harbord and has painted decoration inspired by the de Borgnis decoration at West Wycombe, carried out in 1957 by Robert Morris.

Descent: John Enderby sold 1507 to trustees of Thomas Pigott (d. 1520); to son, Roger Pigott (d. 1562); to son, Francis Pigott, who sold 1580 to Henry Manfield; sold 1594 to Arthur Claver (d. 1624); to son, Marmaduke Claver (fl. 1634); to son, Arthur Claver (fl. 1675), who sold 1675 to Francis Nourse and others; sold 1677 to Gerard Langbaine (d. 1692)... William Bennett; sold 1714 to George Collins... Henry Lovibond (d. 1727); to son Henry Lovibond; to cousin, Henry Lovibond-Collins, who sold 1735 to Francis Tyringham (d. 1735); to sister, Parnell (d. 1741), wife of Charles Pilsworth MP (d. 1749); to widow, Elizabeth Pilsworth (d. 1755); to brother, Sir Thomas Cave (1712-78), 5th bt. of Stanford Hall (Leics); sold 1756 to Richard Hopkins (1728-99); to nephew, Lt-Gen. Richard Northey (later Hopkins) (1756-1845); to son, William Hopkins Northey (1783-1859); to daughter, wife of George Ives Irby, Baron Boston, who sold 1861 to Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1840-1915), 1st Baron Rothschild; sold after 1900 to Henry Yates Thompson (1838-1928); to widow, Elizabeth Thompson (c.1854-1941); to [forename unknown] Elliot; sold c.1952 to Hon. Michael Berry (1911-2001), later Baron Hartwell and (briefly), 3rd Viscount Camrose; to daughter, Harriet Mary Margaret (b. 1944), wife of Martin Cullen. The house was let for much of the 19th century to tenants including Sir Thomas Digby Aubrey (1782-1856), 7th bt., and then G.H. Brettle. After the sale of 1861 it was leased to to Col. Walter Caulfeild Pratt (d. 1900). In the mid 20th century, the house was rented to Randolph Churchill MP (1911-68), son of Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister.

Berry family of Hackwood Park and Oving House, Viscounts Camrose

John Mathias Berry (1847-1917)
Berry, John Mathias (1847-1917). Only child of James Berry (c.1817-92), manservant and later labourer, and his wife Rebecca (c.1814-98), daughter of Henry Mathias of Camrose (Pembs), farmer, born at Camrose, 2 May 1847. As a young man he was employed as a clerk and later a stationmaster on railways in south Wales, and he later took on a side-hustle as a travelling salesman, which eventually became his sole business. In 1894 he decided on a career change and became a successful auctioneer and estate agent. He then entered public life, becoming a JP for Glamorganshire in 1902 and a Merthyr Tydfil councillor and alderman (Mayor, 1911-12). He was a non-conformist in religion, and was noted for his charitable work for those less fortunate than himself. He married, 24 May 1870, Mary Ann (1846-1922), daughter of Thomas Rowe of Pembroke Dock (Pembs.), shipwright, and had issue, with two others who died in infancy:

(1) Lucy Beatrice Berry (1871-1930), born Apr-Jun 1871; married, 28 January 1894 at Sketty (Glam.), David John Jones (alias Berry-Jones) (1867-1927), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 18 September 1930; will proved 10 December 1930 (estate £36,858);

(2) Pryse Llewellyn Berry (1875-76), born Jan-Mar 1875; died in infancy, Oct-Dec 1876;
(3) Henry Seymour Berry (1877-1928), 1st Baron Buckland (q.v.);
(4) Sir William Ewert Berry (1879-1954), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Camrose (q.v.);
(5) James Gomer Berry (1883-1968), 1st Viscount Kemsley [for whom see below, Berry family of Dropmore and Thorpe Lubenham Hall].

He lived at Gwaelodygarth, Merthyr Tydfil (Glam.). His widow lived at Bathampton (Som.)

He died 9 January 1917; will proved 8 March 1917 (estate £23,842). His widow died at Bournemouth (Hants), 6 June 1922.

Lord Buckland of Bwlch
Berry, Henry Seymour (1877-1928), 1st Baron Buckland of Bwlch. Eldest surviving son of John Mathias Berry (1847-1917) and his wife Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Rowe of Pembroke Dock (Pembs.), born 17 September 1877. Educated at Caedraw Higher Grade School and Abermorlais Boys School, where he became a pupil teacher. In 1897 he joined his father's business, where he remained until in 1915 he became agent to, and a protégé of, Lord Rhondda (for whom his father had acted as election agent) and was appointed to several company boards. When Rhondda joined Lloyd George's government his numerous industrial interests were entrusted to Berry and he became chairman of several companies. After Lord Rhondda's death in 1918 he continued his aggressive programme of consolidation in the industry, and at one point he was on the board of some 66 companies, which through mergers and acquisitions had been reduced to around twenty by the time of his death. He was also Chairman of Guest, Keen & Nettlefold (GKN) Ltd. from 1927 and a director of the Western Mail newspaper. High Sheriff of Breconshire, 1924; JP for Merthyr Tydfil and for Breconshire. He was a lifelong Congregationalist in religion. He was appointed a Knight of St. John and was raised to the peerage as Baron Buckland of Bwlch, 16 July 1926. He married, 5 September 1907, Gwladys Mary (1884-1971), eldest daughter of Simon Sandbrook, ironmonger, of The Hawthorns, Merthyr Tydfil, and had issue:

(1) Hon. Gwladys Eileen Berry (1908-55), born 10 June 1908; married, 3 July 1930 at Savoy Chapel, Westminster (Middx), Arthur Donald Claude Thomas Thistlethwayte (1903-56), farmer and amateur racing driver, and had issue three sons; died 14 February 1955; will proved 19 July 1955 (estate £16,302);
(2) Hon. Mary Lorraine Berry (1911-82); married, 18 January 1934 at St James RC Church, Spanish Place, Marylebone (Middx), Lt-Col. Gwyn William Morgan-Jones (1910-64), son of Maj. Morgan G. Jones of Llanmiloe (Carmarthens.), and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 2 November 1982;
(3) Hon. Dorothy Margaret Berry (1914-82), born 17 March 1914; married, 12 December 1939 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Col. Dennis Douglas Pilkington Smyly (1913-79) of Woolton House (Hants), younger son of Maj. R.J. Smyly of Sweethay Court, Trull (Som.) and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 2 November 1982 and was buried at Trull; will proved 25 January 1983 (estate £119,613);
(4) Hon. Joan Sybil Berry (1919-88), born 2 March 1919; married, 18 April 1942 at St Michael, Chester Sq., Westminster (Middx), Col. Michael Colvin Watson (1918-2004) of Eastington House, Ampney St. Peter (Glos), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 24 November and was buried at Ampney St. Peter, 29 November 1988; will proved 15 February 1989 (estate £673,412);
(5) Hon. Cecily Eveline Berry (1921-75), born 11 October 1921; married 1st, 13 April 1940 at All Souls, Langham Place, Marylebone (Middx), Patrick Magor Leatham (1914-51) of Seagry Manor (Wilts) and had issue two sons; married 2nd, Jul-Sept 1952, Lt-Col. Richard Ian Griffith Taylor (1911-84) of Chipchase Castle (Northbld.), and had issue further two daughters; died 13 October 1975; will proved 23 January 1976 (estate £107,641).

He bought the Buckland, Bwlch (Brecons.) estate in 1922.

He died as a result of a riding accident, 23 May 1928, when his peerage became extinct, and was cremated at Pontypridd, 26 May 1928; his will was proved 8 April 1929 (estate £1,116,447). His widow died in London, 29 September 1971; her will was proved 22 November 1971 (estate £78,288).

1st Viscount Camrose
Berry, Sir William Ewert (1879-1954), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Camrose. Second surviving son of John Mathias Berry (1847-1917) and his wife Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Rowe of Pembroke Dock (Pembs.), born 23 June 1879. He left school at fourteen and found work as a journalist with local newspapers before being appointed a City reporter for the Investors' Guardian. After a period of unemployment, he was taken on by the Commercial Press Association, and in 1901 he founded Advertising World with a loan of £100 from his elder brother. When this was a success, he brought his younger brother, Gomer Berry, into partnership and the two worked together for many years. He sold Advertising World in 1905 at a substantial profit and moved on to further magazine publishing ventures, including Boxing in 1909. In 1915 the brothers bought the failing Sunday Times and made it a commercial success; he remained its editor-in-chief until 1936. In 1919 the brothers bought the St Clements Press, which owned The Financial Times, and they continued with the relentless, and sometimes ruthless, acquisition of provincial newspapers as well as Kelly's Directories and the Gaumont British cinema chain. The 1920s were a period of intense rivalry with Lord Rothermere's Associated Newspapers, from which most commentators judge the Berrys emerged the stronger. In 1924 they established Allied Newspapers in partnership with Sir Edward Iliffe and in 1926 purchased Amalgamated Newspapers from the estate of Lord Northcliffe, which brought them some 70 magazine titles as well as printing works and paper mills in south London. In 1927 they bought the Daily Telegraph, of which Lord Camrose became chief proprietor and editor-in-chief, 1928-54, and this was followed by the acquisition of the Morning Post in 1937. At this time the two brothers dissolved Allied Newspapers so as to each have a distinct portfolio of titles to pass on to their heirs. It was a fortuitously timed move, for after 1938 the brothers had increasingly divergent views on foreign policy, with Lord Kemsley supporting appeasement of Hitler's Germany and Lord Camrose pressing for a more hawkish line and faster rearmament. During the Second World War Lord Camrose was principal adviser to the Ministry of Information, and he (and the Daily Telegraph) supported Churchill in and out of office until his final retirement in 1955. Camrose was author of British Newspapers and their controllers (1947), intended as a contribution to the public debate stimulated by the Royal Commission on the Press, 1947-49. He was made a baronet, 1921, raised to the peerage as Baron Camrose in 1929, and promoted to a viscountcy, 1941. He was also awarded an honorary degree (LLD) by the University of Bristol. A riding accident in the 1920s obliged him to give up riding, and his chief recreations thereafter were motoring and sailing; he was Vice-Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron. He married, 2 June 1908 at Christ Church, Down St., Mayfair, Westminster (Middx), Mary Agnes (1882-1962), eldest daughter of Thomas Corns of Kensington (Middx), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Mary Cecilia Berry (1906-96), born in USA, 9 March 1906; married, 22 January 1930 at Christ Church, Long Cross (Surrey), Maj. Ronald Guthrie McNair Scott (1906-95) of Huish House, Old Basing (Hants), youngest son of Robert Frederick McNair Scott (1870-1957), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 24 June 1996; will proved 5 November 1996;
(2) John Seymour Berry (1909-95), 2nd Viscount Camrose (q.v.);
(3) William Michael Berry (1911-2001), Baron Hartwell (and 3rd Viscount Camrose) (q.v.);
(4) Hon. Sheila Berry (1913-92), born 3 May 1913; Lady in Waiting to HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, 1949-53; married, 1 May 1935 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith (1907-75), 2nd Earl of Birkenhead, courtier and author of political biographies, and had issue one son and one daughter; lived latterly at Charlton (Northants); died 10 June 1992; will proved 14 January 1993 (estate £2,452,104);
(5) Hon. Molly Patricia Berry (1915-95), born 6 October 1915; married 1st, 19 May 1936 in the Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey, Capt. Roger Charles George Chetwode (d. 1940), only son of Field Marshal Philip Chetwode (1869-1950), later 1st Baron Chetwode, and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 23 March 1942 at Christ Church, Mayfair, Westminster (div. 1948), as his first wife, Hugh Seely (1898-1970), 1st Baron Sherwood; married 3rd, 21 July 1958 at Caxton Hall Registry Office, London, as his second wife, Lt-Col. Sir Richard Charles Geers Cotterell (1907-78), 5th bt. of Garnons (Herefs); died 31 August 1995;
(6) Hon. Rodney Mathias Berry (1917-63), born 29 April 1917; educated at Eton and Hertford College, Oxford; a director of the Associated Press; served in Second World War with Royal Berkshire Regt. (Lt.; wounded); lived at Upton Park (Hants); married, 4 January 1955, Susan Jenifer (d. 1998) (who m2, 8 January 1964 (div. 1978), Henry Lambert Middleton (1923-98) of Belsay Castle (Northbld), television producer), elder daughter of William Arthur Fearnley-Whittingstall QC of the Old Manor House, Melbourn (Cambs), but had no issue, though he adopted one daughter; died 10 March 1963; will proved 12 June 1963 (estate £1,434,741);
(7) Col. the Hon. Julian Berry (1920-88), born 24 March 1920; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (Lt., 1946; Capt., 1947; Maj., 1954; Lt-Col., 1960; retired as Col., 1964); commanded Royal Horse Guards, 1958-60 and Household Cavalry, 1960-64; appointed OBE, 1959; lived at The Old Rectory, Tunworth (Hants); JP and DL for Hampshire (Vice Lord-Lieutenant, 1982); married, 31 July 1946, (Janet Frances) Denise (d. 2010), elder daughter of Maj. John Leslie Rowan-Thomson of Sayers, Great Somerford (Wilts), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 26 June 1988 and was buried at Tunworth; administration with will annexed granted 31 January 1990 (estate £5,470,320);
(8) Hon. Diana Phyllis Berry (1924-94), born Oct-Dec 1924; served in Second World War with WRNS; married, 7 April 1948, William Perine Macauley (d. 1990) of Ballyward House (Co. Wicklow), son of Timothy Alfred Macauley of Montreal (Canada), and had issue three sons and three daughters; died 20 December and was buried at Blessington (Co. Wicklow), 23 December 1994.

He purchased Hackwood Park (Hants) in 1935.

He died 15 June 1954; his will was proved 14 September 1954 (estate £1,480,685). His widow died 9 October 1962; her will was proved 4 January 1963 (estate £721,240).

Berry, John Seymour (1909-95), 2nd Viscount Camrose. Eldest son of Sir William Ewart Berry (1879-1954), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Camrose, and his wife Mary Agnes, eldest daughter of Thomas Corns of Kensington (Middx), born 12 July 1909. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. Deputy Chairman of The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post (1954-87); Vice-Chairman of Amalgamated Press, 1942-59; a Younger Brother of Trinity House. He served in the Second World War with the City of London Yeomanry (Maj.) in north Africa and Italy. Conservative MP for Hitchin, 1941-45. He married, March 1986, his long-term mistress, Joan Barbara (1908-97), eldest daughter of John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller (1873-1930), 3rd Baron Churston and formerly wife of W/Cdr. (Thomas) Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness OBE (1906-88) and Prince Aly Khan (1911-60), but had no issue.

He inherited Hackwood Park from his father in 1954. It was sold in 1998 after his widow's death.

He died 15 February 1995; his will was proved 8 August 1995 (estate £24,792,905). His widow died 25 April 1997; her will was proved 25 July 1997.

Berry, William Michael (1911-2001), Baron Hartwell (and 3rd Viscount Camrose). Second son of Sir William Ewart Berry (1879-1954), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Camrose, and his wife Mary Agnes, eldest daughter of Thomas Corns of Kensington (Middx), born 18 May 1911. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1933; MA 1954). He served in the City of London Yeomanry during and after the Second World War (2nd Lt., 1938; Capt. and Maj., 1940; Lt-Col., 1944) and was mentioned in despatches twice and awarded the MBE, 1944. Editor of the Glasgow Sunday Mail, 1934-35; managing editor of the Financial Times, 1937-39; chairman of Amalgamated Press, 1954-59; chairman and editor-in-chief of Daily Telegraph, 1954-87 and Sunday Telegraph, 1961-87; a director of London Weekend Television, 1968-81 (deputy Chairman); a trustee of Reuters News Agency, 1962-89; a director of the Telegraph plc to 1995; Joint Hon. Sec. of the Other Club*, 1970-95; author of Party Choice (1948) and William Camrose, giant of Fleet Street (1992). He was raised to a life peerage as Baron Hartwell, 19 January 1968, and succeeded his elder brother as 3rd Viscount Camrose, 15 February 1995, but disclaimed the hereditary peerage, 3 March 1995. He married, 7 January 1936, Lady Pamela Margaret Elizabeth (1914-82), younger daughter of Frederick Edwin Smith (1872-1930), 1st Earl of Birkenhead, and had issue:

(1) Adrian Michael Berry (1937-2016), 4th Viscount Camrose, born 15 June 1937; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; journalist; science correspondent of Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, 1977-96 and subsequently consulting science editor; author of many popular scientific and futurology works; Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Geographical Society, and the British Interplanetary Society; succeeded his father as 4th Viscount Camrose, 3 April 2001; married, 4 January 1967, Marina Beatrice (fl. 2024), daughter of Cyrus Sulzberger of Paris (France), and had issue one son (now the 5th Viscount Camrose) and one daughter; died 19 April 2016; will proved 2 December 2016;
(2) Hon. Nicholas William Berry (1942-2016), born 3 July 1942; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; columnist in Daily Telegraph; chairman and managing director of Thomas Stevens; chairman of Staniforth Trust Ltd. from 1972; married, 22 September 1977 in Paris (France), Evelyne, daughter of M. Jacques Prouvost, and had issue one son; died in Paris, 25 December 2016; will proved 1 June 2017;
(3) Hon. Harriet Mary Margaret Berry (b. 1944) (q.v.);
(4) Hon. Eleanor Agnes Berry (b. 1950), born 6 May 1950; educated at Wycombe Abbey School and Sussex University (BA); novelist; does not use her courtesy title.

He purchased Oving House c.1952 and remodelled it, 1954-58.

He died 3 April 2001; his will was proved 21 February 2002. His wife died 7 January 1982; her will was proved 21 July 1982 (estate £986,249).

* A political dining society founded in 1911 by Sir Winston Churchill and F.E. Smith.

Berry, Hon. Harriet Mary Margaret (b. 1944). Elder daughter of Michael William Berry (1911-2001), Baron Hartwell, and his wife Lady Pamela Margaret Elizabeth, younger daughter of Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, born 8 November 1944. Chairman of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association, 1997-2018; appointed BEM, 2023. Author of a biography of her mother (forthcoming, 2025). She married, 16 May 1981, Martin Cullen, journalist and novelist, and owner of an estancia in Argentina, son of Martin Cullen of Argentina, and has issue:

(1) Miguel Cullen (b. 1982), born 2 March 1982; poet and journalist; partner of Victoria, daughter of Manuel Perez-Fragero, and has issue one daughter;
(2) Domingo Cullen (b. 1983), born 28 July 1983.

She inherited Oving House from her father in 2001.

Now living. Her husband is now living.

Berry family, Viscounts Kemsley

Berry, Sir James Gomer (1883-1968), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Kemsley. Third surviving son of John Mathias Berry (1847-1917) [for whom see above] and his wife Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Rowe of Pembroke Dock (Pembs.), born 7 May 1883. High Sheriff of Glamorganshire, 1929. In partnership with his elder brother in the development of Allied Newspapers Ltd. from soon after 1901 until 1937, when the brothers agreed to divide their interests so they had distinct portfolios of titles to pass to their heirs. Thereafter he was Chairman of Kemsley Newspapers, 1937-59, but he lacked his brother's foresight and financial acumen, and in the later years of his ownership, presided over the disintegration of the group. He was editor-in-chief of the Sunday Times, 1937-59 and a trustee of Reuters News Agency, 1942-68 (Chairman, 1951-59). JP for Buckinghamshire. President of Merthyr General Hospital, 1928-49 and chairman of its Infants' Hospital, 1922-37; chairman of King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor, 1933-37. Master of Spectacle Makers Co., city of London, 1934-36. President of University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, 1945-50 and Football Association of Wales, 1946-60. He was an officer in the territorial battalion of the Royal Army Service Corps, 1939-48 (hon. Col.). Founder of Kemsley Flying Trust, 1947; President of British Gliding Assoc., 1947-61 (Vice-President, 1962-68). He was appointed a Knight of the Order of St John, held serveral foreign decorations, and was awarded honorary degrees by the Universities of Manchester (LLD) and Wales (LLD). He was created a baronet, 25 January 1926, raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Kemsley, 3 February 1936, promoted to be 1st Viscount Kemsley, 12 September 1945, and appointed GBE, 1959. He married 1st, 4 July 1907, Mary Lilian (d. 1928), daughter of Horace George Holmes of London, and 2nd, 30 April 1931 at St Columba, Pont St., London, Edith OBE (d. 1976), daughter of Nicholas Emile Merandon du Plessis, of Flacq (Mauritius), and formerly wife of Cornelius Willem Dresselhuys, a Dutch diplomat, and had issue:

(1.1) Geoffrey Lionel Berry (1909-99), 2nd Viscount Kemsley (q.v.);
(1.2) Hon. Denis Gomer Berry (1911-83) (q.v.);
(1.3) Hon. (William) Neville Berry (1914-98), born 16 June 1914; educated at Harrow, Magdalen College, Oxford and Inner Temple (admitted 1932); an officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1940) in the Second World War; a director of Kemsley Newspapers Ltd., 1938-59 and of London Assurance Co., 1950-59; lived latterly in Monaco; married, 12 July 1951, Christobel Ruby (1909-95), only daughter of John Wallis More-Molyneux-McCowen, and formerly wife of Lansear Bardley Norrie of New York (USA), but had no issue; died 19 May 1998;
(1.4) Hon. John Douglas Berry (1916-44), born 1 May 1916; educated at Harrow and University College, Oxford; an officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1940); died unmarried of wounds received in action at Monte Battaglia (Italy), 10 October 1944; buried in Santerno Valley War Cemetery (Italy); will proved 3 February 1945 (estate £225,516);
(1.5) twin, Hon. Herbert Oswald Berry (1918-52), born 13 June 1918; educated at Harrow and Pembroke College, Oxford; served in Auxiliary Air Force (Pilot Offr, 1939; Flying Offr, 1941; invalided) in Second World War; a director of Kemsley Newspapers Ltd. and Kemsley Northern Newspapers Ltd.; married 28 September 1940, Lady Mary Clementine (1921-2002) (who m2, 10 September 1953, Shafto Gerald Strachan Pawle (1913-91), elder son of Capt. John Pawle (d. 1960) of Little Havers, Bishops Stortford (Herts)), only daughter of John Charles Henry Pratt (1899-1983), 5th Marquess Camden, but had no issue; died 8 June 1952; will proved 17 January 1953 (estate £146,324);
(1.6) twin, Hon. Mary Pamela Berry (1918-98), born 13 June 1918; a director of Aberdeen Journals, 1940-59, and actively involved in charity work in Aberdeen; a keen motorist and qualified pilot, she also played bridge and canasta at international standard; married, 15 March 1941 at Farnham Royal (Bucks) (div. 1965), Douglas Charles Lindsay Gordon (1908-87), 12th Marquess of Huntly, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 29 January 1998; will proved 14 September 1998;
(1.7) Hon. Sir Anthony George Berry, kt. (1925-84), born 12 February 1925; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1950; MA 1956); an officer in the Welsh Guards (2nd Lt., 1943; Lt., 1945; retired 1947); a director of Kemsley Newspapers Ltd., 1954-59 and of Western Mail and Echo, 1955-59; deputy chairman of Leopold Joseph & Sons Ltd.; director of Anglo-Welsh Investments Trust Ltd; member of Council, University of South Wales and Monmouthshire, 1952-64; President of Welsh Games Council; member of Western Area Board of British Transport Commission, 1956-58; JP for Cardiff, 1960; High Sheriff of Glamorganshire, 1962-63; Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, 1964-84; Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (Government whip), 1979; married 1st, 25 November 1954 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx) (div. 1966), Hon. Mary Cynthia Burke (1934-2023) (who m2, 1981 (div. 1989), Michael Gunningham, schoolteacher), elder daughter of Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, and had issue one son and three daughters; married 2nd, 5 April 1966, Sarah Anne (who m2, 2009, Bernard Donoughue (b. 1934), Baron Donoughue (LP)), daughter of Raymond Clifford-Turner, solicitor, and had further issue one son and one daughter; killed in the IRA bombing of the Conservative Party conference in the Grand Hotel, Brighton, 12 October 1984; will proved 15 November 1984 (estate £432,854).

He lived in some splendour at Chandos House, Marylebone, from 1927-59 (when it was sold to the Royal Society of Medicine). He purchased Dropmore House (Bucks) in 1943, but it was sold after his death in 1968.

He died in Monte Carlo (Monaco), 6 February 1968, and was buried at Dropmore (Bucks); his will was proved 11 July 1968 (estate £310,866). His first wife died 1 February 1928. His widow died 13 September 1976; her will was proved 10 January 1977 (estate £160,982).

Berry, (Geoffrey) Lionel (1909-99), 2nd Viscount Kemsley. Eldest son of Sir James Gomer Barry (1883-1963), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Kemsley, and his first wife, Mary Lilian, daughter of Horace George Holmes of London, born 29 June 1909. Educated at Marlborough, Magdalen College, Oxford and Inner Temple (admitted 1928). An officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1940; invalided, 1942). Conservative MP for Buckingham, 1943-45; deputy chairman of Kemsley Newspapers Ltd., 1938-59; County Councillor for Northamptonshire, 1964-70; High Sheriff of Leicestershire, 1967-68; DL for Leicestershire (from 1972); Master of the Spectacle Makers' Company, city of London, 1949-51, 1959-61; Chairman of St Andrew's Hospital, Northampton, 1973-84. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Knight of St. John. He married, 21 June 1933 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Lady Hélène Candida (1913-2011), DGStJ, eldest daughter of William George Montagu Hay (1884-1967), 11th Marquess of Tweeddale, and had issue:

(1) Mary Anne Berry (b. 1934), born 30 April 1934; married, 26 July 1960, Charles Henry van Raalte (1923-93) of The Old Rectory, Clippesby (Norfk), son of Noel Marcus van Raalte (1888-1940), and had issue one son and two daughters; now living;
(2) Pamela Jane Margeurite Berry (1937-2013), born 27 May 1937; married, 14 September 1961, Sir Gerald Nigel Mobbs, kt. (1937-2005), chairman of Slough Estates, only son of Lt-Col. Gerald Aubrey Mobbs (1911-76), of Bramleys, Little Kingshill (Bucks), and had issue one son and twin daughters; died 13 December 2013 and was buried 7 January 2014; will proved 15 August 2014;
(3) Caroline Helen Berry (b. 1942), born 8 September 1942; married, 24 March 1965 at St Peter, Eaton Square, Westminster, John Peter Houison-Craufurd (1930-2012) of Crawfurdland and Braehead (Ayrs.), only son of John Douglas Houison-Craufurd (d. 1957), and had issue two sons and one daughter; now living;
(4) Catherine Frances Lilian Berry (1944-2017), born 9 June 1944; married, 19 April 1969 at Leicester Cathedral, Richard Douglas Fowler Bream (b. 1936) of Manor Farm, Grace Dieu (Leics), younger son of Clifford Ellett Bream (1902-87), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 27 September 2017; will proved 28 June 2018.

He purchased Thorpe Lubenham Hall (Leics) in 1962 and moved to Field House, Thorpe Lubenham in the 1980s.

He died 28 February 1999; his will was proved 10 May 1999. His widow died aged 97 on 4 January 2011; her will was proved 25 October 2011.

Berry, Hon. Denis Gomer (1911-83). Second son of Sir James Gomer Barry (1883-1963), 1st bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Kemsley, and his first wife, Mary Lilian, daughter of Horace George Holmes of London, born 11 July 1911. Educated at Marlborough. An officer in the territorial army who served with the Grenadier Guards in Second World War (Maj.); County Councillor for Hampshire, 1969; director of Kemsley Newspapers Ltd; Master of the Coachmakers' and Coach Harness Makers' Company, city of London, 1959-60; President of the New Forest Association, 1969; Commodore of Bembridge Sailing Club, 1969. He was made a Knight of St John of Jerusalem (Officer, 1955). He married 1st, 3 July 1934 at Marylebone Register Office (div. 1942 on the grounds of her adultery with her future second husband), Rosemary Leonora Ruth (1913-2013), elder daughter of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild OBE, and 2nd, 27 July 1947, Pamela (d. 1987), elder daughter of Lord Richard Wellesley and formerly wife of Lt. Charles Robert Archibald Grant RN, and had issue:

(1.1) Hon. Barbara Marie-Louise Constance Berry (1935-2023), born 28 December 1935; raised to rank of a viscount's daughter, 2000; married, 2 December 1954 (div. 1983), Alexander Clement Gilmour (1931-2009) (who m2, 1983, Susan Janet (b. 1944), elder daughter of Capt. Voltelin James Howard Van der Byl (1907-68), DSC, RN, and formerly wife of Alwyn Richard Dudley Smith (b. 1939), and Philip Chetwode (b. 1937), 2nd Baron Chetwode), son of Lt-Col. Sir John Little Gilmour (1899-1977), 2nd bt., and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 6 June 2023;
(1.2) Susan Lilian Berry (1938-89), born 8 August 1938; married 1st, 6 November 1963 (div. 1978), Sir Christopher George Francis Harding (1939-99), kt., chairman of British Nuclear Fuels and other companies (who m2, Françoise de Laperrière and 3rd, 1994, Anne Skelley), only son of Frank Harding of Whyteleafe, Amersham (Bucks), bank manager, and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, April 1989, Raymond Muir, and died 27 April 1989; will proved 27 September 1989 (estate £635,447);
(2.1) Hon. Anne Denise Berry (b. 1948), born 5 March 1948; raised to rank of a viscount's daughter, 2000; married, 23 May 1970, Brian Peter Harvey Orange KStJ (1946-2017) of Kings Somborne (Hants), son of Richard Brian Orange (1908-63) of Oxshott (Surrey), and had issue three sons; now living;
(2.2) Richard Gomer Berry (b. 1951), 3rd Viscount Kemsley (q.v.).

He purchased Brockenhurst Park (Hants) with 283 acres in 1960.

He died 30 September 1983; his will was proved 15 December 1983 (estate £1,407,498). His first wife married 2nd, 1942, John Anthony Seys (d. 1989), and had further issue one son; she died aged 99 on 29 April 2013; her will was proved 30 May 2014. His widow died 31 March 1987; her will was proved 9 July 1987 (estate £426,150).

Berry, Richard Gomer (b. 1951), 3rd Viscount Kemsley. Only son of Hon. Denis Gomer Berry (1911-83) and his second wife, Pamela, elder daughter of Lord Richard Wellesley and formerly wife of Lt. Charles Robert Archibald Grant RN, born 17 April 1951. Educated at Eton. He succeded his uncle as 3rd Viscount Kemsley, 28 February 1999. He married 1st, 9 May 1981 at Beaulieu Abbey church (Hants) (div. 1988) Tana-Marie (b. 1958), elder daughter of Clive William Lester of Beaulieu (Hants), and 2nd, 17 September 1994, Elizabeth Jane, daughter of Dennis Norman Barker of The Paddock, Ampthill (Beds), and had issue:

(2.1) Hon. Luke Gomer Berry (b. 1998), born 2 February 1998; heir apparent to his father's peerages;
(2.2) Hon. Jessamine Eleanor Berry (b. 1999), born 26 July 1999 as Jake Edward Berry; name changed, 2021.

He lived at Church Hill Farm, Brockenhurst (Hants).

Now living. His first wife is now living. His second wife is now living.