Friday, March 14, 2014

Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, left her mark at Water End House.


Sandridge
Sarah Jennings was born at Water End, Sandridge (now in Wheathampstead) and little could have her parents guessed that she would end up as the Lady of Blenheim Palace! My interest in the house arises because my Great Great Grandfather, Dolphin Smith, moved there in about 1843. 

However the reason for mentioning the house now is that Harvey's father worked as a gardener at the house in the mid 20th century. As a result we now know that at that time the house was occupied by Colonel Bertram James Walker and his second wife,  Lucie Marie Ludovika Anastasia Adelheid Karola Hedwig comtesse Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow of Denmark. Harvey also provides an interesting description of the interior of the house - including an inscription "SJ" which is said to have been put there by Sarah Jennings.

2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have updated the web page on Water End with some information provided by Anthony - including a passage translated from the Danish.

    ReplyDelete

This is the newsletter for the Genealogy in Hertfordshire Web site. Comments on this blog are moderated and may be transferred to the web site where appropriate. If you have a local or family history query you want answered you must use "Ask Chris" - See box in right hand column. Anonymous comments cannot be answered.