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Did forebears of yours live in a grand country pile?

159 replies

Timpeall · 13/02/2021 23:03

Be it a Highclere Castle type affair, a minor country estate in Somerset, maybe some kind of Tudor manor house.

I'm watching The Little Stranger which is set post-WWII and shows a family who can very much not afford to keep the family seat going. It's all dust and decay and slogging away doing their own cooking and cleaning.* God, it's so depressing watching these people in their ramshackle home with the days of former splendour still in living memory. They don't have so much as a ladies maid to throw a hairbrush at anymore.

And I know these houses could only exist for so long because they were able to exploit their servants by paying them two shillings and thrupence and only giving them a half Sunday's holiday every six weeks. But it's still quite poignant.

And then I thought, there must be lots of people living in nice comfy four bed semi-detached houses whose ancestors at some point lived in some seriously impressive gaffs. Do they have framed sepia pictures of the old ancestral pile on the wall?

*These poor buggers also have the added hassle of some ghostly demon.

OP posts:
Woebegonad · 13/02/2021 23:07

Nah.

Like the overwhelming majority, my ancestors were the serving class.

Tear it all down.

MontyDonJuan · 13/02/2021 23:09

Yes.

Now I own it.

Timeforabiscuit · 13/02/2021 23:10

The best mine got to was aspiring middle class (and that was my grandad!).

But we do have a family tartan.

grassisjeweled · 13/02/2021 23:10

Nope. One aide poor as church mice, other side well to do but not landed gentry.

grassisjeweled · 13/02/2021 23:10

Aide? Side!

HeadNorth · 13/02/2021 23:10

My forebears scrubbed the grates in a large country pile - the only way has been up for my family.

nimbuscloud · 13/02/2021 23:11

Dhs aunt did
When she died it was sold for millions

OppsUpsSide · 13/02/2021 23:12

Mine are mostly a mystery!

ThatIsNotMyUsername · 13/02/2021 23:13

Yes. Then - very mills & boon - she ran off with a stable boy and was disowned. And on the other side all the property and land was given to the church by a dotty ancestor.

saffire · 13/02/2021 23:15

Nope. Most of my ancestors were the servants.

GeidiPrimes · 13/02/2021 23:15

Not me, but my late DH grew up in such a place. His family sell off their land to make ends meet and keep the trust funds paying out.

Pluas · 13/02/2021 23:18

Not my family — we’re more landless labourer class— but a couple of friends. One grew up in a historically significant manor on a large Kent estate, but his parents lost all the family money in the 80s Lloyds crash, and now live in a coastal bungalow in Devon, and my friend lives in a suburban 4-bed in Bristol. Another friend actually lives in what had been a farmworker’s cottage on an estate his grandparents had to sell.

And a friend I knew at university was the granddaughter to the last ruler of a small princely state in Raj India — the palace is now a hotel.

Noidea2114 · 13/02/2021 23:18

My GG grandad was the son of an Earl, fell in love with a boat lady and disowned.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 13/02/2021 23:22

Dh's family on both sides. The maternal lot gave up their castle in around 1900 when it became too expensive and unpractical to live in. Fil's mother only had sisters and so the estate went to the closest male relative (a cousin I think) when her father died. Fil is still grumpy about it. They have a couple of paintings and lots of items though.

With the possible exception of my Russian great grandmother, my lot were peasants.

Bythemillpond · 13/02/2021 23:24

I think all mine were running from persecution and wars or trying to make ends meet whilst living in the slums

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 13/02/2021 23:30

Mine had a stately home in Wales, now owned by the council and used for weddings and what have you.
The family lost everything in the 1930's and were all completely mad anyway, I'm glad I don't have a massive pile of bricks to look after.
I have no interest in that way of life.

DustyMaiden · 13/02/2021 23:38

Yes, lots of lords and ladies

Did forebears of yours live in a grand country pile?
Mabelene · 13/02/2021 23:38

My husbands ancestors apparently had a small castle in Devon which is now a hotel

idontlikealdi · 13/02/2021 23:38

My parents did. Lost it all in the first recession of recent times. My mothers never got over it and now lives in social housing.

DinosApple · 13/02/2021 23:40

Mine went from farm labourers, to farmer, to owning multiple farms, and back to nought, all in 4 generations. Hard earned, not inherited, and then lost. The wheel of fortune and all that.

Everyone else in my family has been shop owners or tailors for as far back as we can go.

Hailtomyteeth · 13/02/2021 23:42

Castles in the north west, north east, and Scotland.

@DustyMaiden - My ancestors go back to the Stainless Knight...

StanfordPines · 13/02/2021 23:43

Yes. A great great great grandfather lost it in a bet.

My father’s job took him to lots of old country piles and I knew a lot of them well. Most people could barely afford to keep the roof on. One place the top floor was off limits because it wasn’t safe.
Another the family has lots of property and businesses but slowly had to sell them all off including the house. Now they live in a cottage in the village. It’s like To the Manor Born.

LimitIsUp · 13/02/2021 23:44

Nope. Yorkshire farmers mostly

LunaHeather · 13/02/2021 23:44

Alas no.

Please read the book. The film is okay but the book is utterly brilliant and the importance of the house is major.

Teddy1970 · 13/02/2021 23:46

Yes, they owned a large manor house in Surrey which is now divided into apartments.