Did forebears of yours live in a grand country pile?

[Timpeall]

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.

No - all northerners who worked in mills and factories.

Well, only the ones that were living in the big country pile as servants. The rest were farmers and then coal miners.

Some of my ancestors lived in one of the gatehouses to a big country house, now owned by the National Trust.

They worked on the estate and my great grandmother lived with them for a few years around 1870.

That's my connection with aristocracy and gracious living!

My grandmother used to speak of a not too distant relative who grew up in a stately home but turned her back on the family (and money) when she ran away with the stable boy. When I have time I would love to research the family history to see if this is actually true. Maybe I'm in line for an inheritance!!

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

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.

Oh I hope it worked out for her. There was no way back into polite society once everyone knew you'd been bunking up with Hunky Ned the from the stables.

Not mine,but my DH is from fairly aristocratic stock. One set of his great grandparents were very wealthy and owned multiple properties - country pile, townhouse, seaside villa etc. Sadly all gone now except a few bits of furniture that look somewhat incongruous in a modern house.

@cariaaad

My grandmother used to speak of a not too distant relative who grew up in a stately home but turned her back on the family (and money) when she ran away with the stable boy. When I have time I would love to research the family history to see if this is actually true. Maybe I'm in line for an inheritance!!

Another stable boy! They must have been so buff and tanned in comparison to the whey faced and weak chinned aristo suitors

My grandparents were a post war success story and went from literally scrapping the grates at the big house to sending their children to school with royalty.
I always think that's a more interesting story.

Those houses should be full of life and hustle & bustle, I have often thought this when I've seen a run down big house, it's the same when you go to the 1920 ballroom's and 200 people hardly even fill half the place. It's a little bit sad but unfortunately things change.

No idea, but I very much doubt it.

@Scarby9

Some of my ancestors lived in one of the gatehouses to a big country house, now owned by the National Trust.

They worked on the estate and my great grandmother lived with them for a few years around 1870.

That's my connection with aristocracy and gracious living!

I always think gate houses look so appealing. Although I'd have really resented being woken at 4 in the morning to let some carriage in.

@LunaHeather

Alas no.

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

I plan to. I love Sarah Waters and only started watching the film because I hadn't read this one.

A manor. However ggfather, a gentleman of no profession, volunteered to drive ambulances in ww1, got PTSD and a full time nurse was engaged. Ggfather promptly fell in love with nurse and ran off with her taking all the money and leaving ggma a single parent to 3 in much reduced circumstances. A cad.

One of my ancestors had a house where number 10 Downing Street now sits - he was well posh

On one idea, yes. At least one house still in the family. I think they're my third cousins. I grew up on a landed estate that's been in the same family since the 17th century. On the other side, generations of farm labourers, servants and dock workers. I sometimes wonder what Dad's parents thought when Mum and Dad got together.

@Hailtomyteeth
He’s my 14th great grandfather. Maybe you and I are related?

DM traced our ancestry back to the Earl of xx County. Wow, we basically owned the County! She then went to visit a particular church where he was buried. Inside the church was a book, signed by visitors from ALL over the world, all ancestors of said Earl . That put to rest ideas of historic grandeur...

Yes, my GGM's family. The estates were all confiscated by the state after a regime change.

I wish! Does anyone have any pictures? I love a manor/stately home, one of my favourites is Chilham castle in Kent (not the owners mind), it's beautiful.

One of mine did, but she was a below-stairs servant. When she got pregnant, they threw her out and she ended up in the workhouse.

DH's family owned all sorts. He's related to everybody who's anybody but via the females so no money, titles or property. I am from the working class.

No, 2 up 2 down was more usual based on the census. Most of the houses in question were demolished as slums in the 60s.

DF's family in dim and distant past owned a stately pile in Ireland. DMs family (also in dim and distant past) burnt it down.

I’m solidly middle class (give or take one collier great grandfather) but one ancestor was the land agent for a stately home. Think Robert in Diary of a Provincial Lady except that he was living in a grace and favour home on the estate and then pensioned off to a much smaller house when he retired. Through him we did have one set of family friends who were part of the stately home family, and it was all a bit like you describe, she was living in an apartment converted from the stable block and was determined that she would not have her DC raised by nannies as she had been and she would be a hands on parent and housewife. Unfortunately, due to lack of experience she was a truly shocking cook and housewife, but a good and affectionate mother, so it was basically fine.

@DustyMaiden - possibly!

Yes but back in the my families country of origin, it’s now a museum. Family fled in the 1930’s due to the war between China and Japan and communism.