| Ormeley Lodge | |
|---|---|
 Ormeley Lodge in May 2009 | |
 Interactive map of the Ormeley Lodge area | |
| General information | |
| Type | House |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Location | Ham Common, Ham Gate Avenue, Ham, TW10 5HB,Ham, London,England |
| Coordinates | 51°26′07″N0°18′08″W / 51.43528°N 0.30222°W /51.43528; -0.30222 |
| Construction started | c. 1715 |
| Owner | Lady Annabel Goldsmith (until her death in October 2025) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Ormeley Lodge, with gates and railings to front |
| Designated | 10 January 1950 |
| Reference no. | 1286489 |
Ormeley Lodge is aGrade II* listed[1] early 18th-centuryGeorgian house, set in 6 acres (2 ha) on the edge ofHam Common, near toRichmond Park inHam, London. It was, until her death in October 2025, owned byLady Annabel Goldsmith.
Bridget Cherry andNikolaus Pevsner describe the house as "exquisite" and point out the "[b]eautiful doorway with Corinthian pilasters and a frieze carved with cherubs' heads and palm leaves" and the "[o]utstandingly fine wrought-iron gatepiers, gates and railings".[2]
The house, together with the gates and railings, has beenGrade II* listed since 1950.[1] The grounds include a tennis court and swimming pool.[3] The gardens are occasionally open to the public as part of theNational Gardens Scheme.[4]
The house was built on the site of a former cottage in about 1715 by Thomas Hammond, son of a wealthy landowner fromTeddington. At about the same timeJohn Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll began establishing the neighbouringSudbrook Lodge and estate.Charles Townshend, second husband toCaroline, one of Campbell's four daughters, bought Ormeley Lodge in 1763 as a country retreat and they lived there until 1767, moving to Sudbrook Lodge on the death of the Dowager Duchess of Argyll.[5][6]
A claim that the house was the honeymoon destination ofGeorge, Prince of Wales andMaria Fitzherbert on 15 December 1785, following their secret marriage, has not been substantiated.[5][7]
Between 1814 and 1819 the house, then called Ormly Lodge, was one of the homes ofSir John Sinclair, President of theBoard of Agriculture and whose fourth daughter,Catherine Sinclair, was a notable writer of children's fiction.[5][7] In 1817 a footpath was built from thePetersham Road passing in front of the Lodge and leading to Ham Gate Lodge at the entrance to Richmond Park. NamedBarnard's Footpath after its benefactor, it was known asPark Road by 1861 and was renamedHam Gate Avenue in 1945.[8]
Mrs Elizabeth Palmer (c.1757-1832) was the wealthy widow, reputedly worth£40,000 (equivalent to £4.98 million or US$6.19 million in 2023)[9] a year,[10] ofJoseph Budworth (1756–1815), a writer and poet, who changed his name to Palmer in 1812. She had lived at the Lodge since the 1820s.[11][12] On 31 May 1832 she was living as a recluse at Ormly Lodge together with Richard Sharp, a nephew of her late husband, Francis, her elderly brother, and William Bellingham, her son. She was wearing a "full muslin dress with a quantity of loose trimming about it" when she retired to bed with a candle. It was conjectured that part of her dress caught fire from the candle. TheEvening Standard reported the events.[13]
| "At half-past nine o'clock Mrs. Palmer desired her maid to inform Mr. Sharpe, to whom she was greatly attached, that feeling herself rather indisposed, she should not be able to see him again that night. The servant accordingly proceeded down stairs for that purpose leaving her mistress at the door of her bed-chamber, with a lighted candle in her hand. Scarcely had the young woman left Mrs. Palmer than Miss Potter, the housekeeper, who was reading in the front parlour, heard a noise as if some person was gasping for breath. She immediately ran into the hall; but, before any answer could be made to her inquiries, she distinctly heard the same sound again, issuing from an apartment on the first floor, and it instantly occurred to her that Mrs. Palmer was either in a fit, or had met with some accident. Miss Potter rushed up stairs, when the first object that met her view, was her mistress enveloped in flames, and standing with both arms extended, in the door-way of a passage leading and immediately contiguous to her bed-room. The horrifying sight for the instant paralysed her exertions; but momentarily recovering herself, she attempted to extinguish the flames, but without effect. The cries of Miss Potter for assistance alarmed Mr. Sharpe, who also in vain tried to put out the fire, which completely enveloped the unfortunate lady. There was nothing near sufficiently incombustible with which they could smother the flames, and they continued to endeavour to extinguish them with their hands. The smoke, however, was so dense that it nearly suffocated them, and they were under the necessity of leaving Mrs. Palmer to her fate, or they would themselves have met their deaths by suffocation. As it was, they were much burnt, but more particularly Mr. Sharpe, who received some severe burns on his face and hands. The smoke, it would seem, prevented Mrs. Palmer calling loudly for aid; and from the period at which she was discovered on fire until she fell on the floor insensible and half burnt, she was unable to utter a word. There can be no doubt she died from suffocation, and when she fell her head struck against the outer door immediately facing the stairs. The flames from her head-dress had partially ignited the canvas which formed the interior covering of the door, and left a burnt hole about the size of the unfortunate lady’s head. When Mr. Sharpe recovered from the effects of the smoke, he ran into Mrs. Palmer's bedroom, and for the first time ascertained that it was on fire; the flames were extending their ravages throughout the room, which was very shortly completely filled with fire. An alarm was given, and about 50 persons, who were at the time attending the fair on the common, most promptly lent their aid. Water was plentifully supplied to them, and they succeeded in confining the flames to the room in which they originated." |
A well-attended coroner's inquest took place the following day at Ormly Lodge which concluded that her death was an accident. Over £3,300 in cash was found in a closet.[14]
The grand funeral took place at theChapel Royal, Hampton Court, and she was buried in the family vault at St Peter's Church, WestMolesey, along with her husband. A service was also held at the newly builtSt Andrew's Church, Ham.[14]
Mrs Palmer's daughter, Emma Mary, who was married toWilliam Alexander Mackinnon, failed when she contested her mother's will “on the ground that they were procured by undue influence and importunity” by Mr Sharp. Mrs Palmer leftcopyhold property worth£17,000 (equivalent to £2.12 million or US$2.63 million in 2023)[9], personal property worth£200,000 (equivalent to £24.89 million or US$30.94 million in 2023)[9] and £38,000 in Ireland. She left the bulk of her property to Mr Sharp, who as well as being her husband's nephew was also agent managing her estates in Ireland, in trust for her son and brother, who were both described as "imbecile in mind"; they both already had incomes worth £5,000 and £8,000 respectively. On their deaths the remaining residue to be held in trust by Mr Sharp for her daughter and then divided between her children. Mr Sharp received a legacy of £10,000 and £5,400 in trust for Mrs Mackinnon.[15] Francis Palmer died in 1834[16] and Mrs Palmer's son died in 1853; Ormley Lodge and Mole Lodge in West Molesey were sold in 1854.[17]
In 1860 Mary Cawthorne Hunter, daughter of the late John Alexander Hunter of Ormeley Lodge, married Sir Edmund Arnaut Grattan.[18] Capt Charles Hunter, son of John A Hunter, died at Ormeley Lodge in 1866.[19]
Later the house was occupied byLauchlan Mackinnon, a captain in the Royal Navy and son of W A Mackinnon, who wrote three books about his experiences. He died there in 1877. The Mackinnon family lived there until about 1891.[20][21]
The house was bought in 1893 byCharles Hanbury-Tracy, 4th Baron Sudeley and his wife,Ada, daughter ofFrederick Tollemache, living there until 1922.[22] Their youngest son Felix, who was killed in action in 1914 is commemorated on a memorial in nearbySt Andrew's Church, Ham. Their second son, Algernon, died in 1915 and is buried atSt Peter's Church, Petersham.[5] Their daughter, Alice, was married at St Andrew's in 1898.[23]
The house's link to theEarls of Dysart, to whom Townshend, Sinclair and Hanbury-Tracy had all been connected by marriage, was broken in 1949 when theTollemache family auctioned the Ham estates. Ormeley Lodge was purchased by antique dealer Ronald Lee. Lee held a loan exhibition entitledMasterpieces of British Art and Craftsmanship in the house in 1954, which was attended byThe Queen Mother.[5][7] Later that year Lee sold the house to theEarl of Westmorland and in 1964 it was sold toLord and Lady Howard de Walden.[5]
Ormeley Lodge was subsequently purchased bySir James Goldsmith in the mid-1970s,[when?] and, with Lady Annabel Goldsmith, it became home for their family of five children, the elder three from Annabel's first marriage; Rupert,Robin andIndia,Jemima andZac, and a sixth,Ben, being born after the move.[24][25]
The mansion contains noble dining and drawing-rooms, library, breakfast and morning rooms, ten bed-chambers and dressing-rooms, with all requisite domestic offices, dry cellarage, &c.; detached a range of coach-houses and stabling, laundry, brewhouse, &c., with accommodation for stable servants. The grounds, comprising about 2 1⁄3 acres, are divided into pleasure lawn and shrubbery, with stately ornamental trees, and a well-stocked kitchen garden, the whole walled in, with a fine old ornamental iron façade fronting the common. This desirable property (except a very small portion, which is freehold) is copyhold of the manor of Kingston Canbury, otherwise Canonbury, subject to trifling quitrents, heriots, duties, and services, and customary fines on death or alienation. The land-tax on the copyhold part has been redeemed.
